


Remembrance and Memories

by CrossGeneration



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Gay, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, OCs - Freeform, OOCness, not canon gay character, possibly unrequited love (sort-of), the rainbow is strong in these ones, very short chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-21
Updated: 2015-06-13
Packaged: 2018-01-20 02:26:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 40,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1493287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossGeneration/pseuds/CrossGeneration
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One year after the Gaea war, our heroes have successfully come back. Suddenly, Nico can't take it anymore, Annabeth wants to confront her biggest fear (other than spiders), Piper and Jason are getting worried, Reyna is confused, and Percy wants to confess his real feelings. WARNING: contains gay feelings and fem!slash. Don't like, don't read.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Forget

**Author's Note:**

> Hey... just a pre-warning the coming chapters are going to be really, really short... most of them, actually. So look out for occasional updates. Thanks for reading, and enjoy! =^u^=

Nico stared. The raging waters reminded him of a certain green-eyed teen. Tears prickled behind his eyes, but he stopped them before they could flow freely; finally, he knew what he wanted to do- had to do. Next to him, a familiar voice asked quietly.

"Are you sure this is what you want, Nico? There's nothing I can guarantee but loss of most, if not all, memories. This is a very serious matter."

The fifteen-year-old continued staring, but his time, at his father straight in the eye, despite the height difference.

"Yes, father. I have made up my mind."

The expression and nod of Hades seemed distant, sorrowful, even,

"I cannot do anything for you, son. You have decided this from your own free will," he put a hand on the demigod's shoulder. "Take care, Nico."

With that he disappeared, leaving behind on the reminiscence of fading black smoke in front of the pale demigod. The Lethe river water sounded tempting, like music to his ears. Nico took a deep breath.

I need another story, something to get off my chest

He took a step forward

'Till all my sleeves are stained red from all the secrets that I've said

Another step.

Tell me what you want to hear, something that will light those ears.

At the edge of the bank. A hushed whisper over the raging waves.

"So I'm gonna give all my secrets away."

He fell.


	2. Ponder

Percy didn't know what to do. Annabeth had hastily told him after dinner that she didn't think that they were meant to be with each other, but instead of feeling devastated, he felt relief fill up his heart. He sighed again, wondering if he should take a short swim to relieve of his stress. Ever since Tartarus, he (with Annabeth) felt that every exchange between them was one of siblings, or close companions, but nothing close to that of 'soul mates'. Grabbing Riptide from underneath his pillow, he quickly changed into a tank top and basketball shorts, resolving to forget everything for a short amount of time sparring with the arena dummies.

It had been one year since the Gaea war; the seven pus three have found bravely until the last moment, but when it came to the final stage of Gaea's defeat, sacrifices had to be made. Hazy images ran through the green-eyed teen's head, of Leo's death, Frank's death, the prophesy's completion, and the sorrow, yet joy that they had when they had come back to Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.

One decapitated dummy, three to go.

Throughout the self-sparring (if you could call it that) period, one scene really stuck out to Percy: It was a long night after the feasting, but something didn't go right with the son of Poseidon. So, naturally, he would go to the shore on Camp Half-Blood for refuge. There, on the shining sands of the beach, he was met with a shaking child of Hades.

Flashback:

"What's wrong, Nico?" He asked gently, rubbing circles on the younger demigod's back or comfort.

" The F-fates... are cruel... Taking my sister once... but t-twice?" The half-Italian's mouth was clamped on his closed fist, muffling all sobs that he had made. Percy gently enbraced the smaller teen and held him until on puffy eyes and stray cheek marks were left on his pale cheeks.

"It's okay Nico, it's going to be okay," wide chocolate one met with sea green one in challenge, "We're all here for each other and love each other. Heck, we saved the world twice." Percy chuckled sadly.

After a shared silence, Nico spoke up, still in Percy's arms.

"Percy? I... I r-really need to do something." The taller demigod cocked his head.

"If you need to use the restroom, you're allowed to g-"

"No, it's not that. Just... just promise me you won't hate m-me." His voice wavered bit, making Percy embrace the son of Hdes warmly again.

"Why would I ever hate you?" Nico laughed bitterly and without humor.

"Oh, if you knew the things that knew and thought, you would most definitely hate me."

"No, I won't, Nico. Don't be ridiculous." Their gazes met again, but in a slightly fierce competition. Nico laughed the same laugh again.

Silently, he leaned forward towards Percy, almost until their noses were touching.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, closing the space between their lips. Percy didn't know what to feel. Shocked? Surprised? Happy? Sad? Angry?

End of Flashback:

While cutting off all the limbs of the third dummy and prodding it in the stomach a few time for good mesure, Percy thought about the reasons why he would've done that. He would've done something in reply, but before he could even think of response, the younger had simply shadow traveled. Gone, just like that.

Somewhere far in the distance, probably at the front of Camp Half-Blood, someone yelled, "Ahh!" Without a second thought, Percy ran off, worrying and wondering if monsters had somehow gotten into camp boundaries. What he saw made him stop and gape.


	3. Help

"So, uh..." the pale boy sitting across from Chiron seemed hardly confused, nervous at the most. 'Well, maybe that's because he doesn't remember anything!' Percy reminded himself, digging his nails into his palms. "Hi?... No, um... am I suppose to introduce myself?" His chocolate brown eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, and Piper subconsciously squeezed her girlfriend's hand tighter, not the only one knowing that there was something wrong with this situation, something horribly wrong.

"What are you talking about Nico? Now can you tell us why you scared a new camper half to death and soaked to the bone?"

"Umm... Nico..." the black-haired teen looked behind him, then back at the blonde, "Is that suppose to be me? I think? It sounds familiar."

"This is one sick joke, dude." Jason couldnt hold anyones eyecontact for long, his electric blue eyes following random patters on the floors, the walls. There was no way that the son of Hades had, he wasn't that stupid of a person, was he? 

"Nico," Percy stated, causing everybody to look at him, "what are you talking about?" He repeated Annabeth's earlier question.

"I... I d-don't remember anything! I swear!"

Chiron sat forward, trotting nervously. "Don't you remember anything from before? How did you come here?" The boy shrugged.

"I mean, I climbed out of a river, and then the first words that I thought were 'Camp Half-Blood' and then I somehow ended up next to the girl I scared." He looked around the table and shrugged, either not noticing or ignoring the non-believing stares that he recieved. "And then.. you guys brought me into here."

"Do you swear on the River Styx that you don't remember anything?" Percy asked. Suddenly, something flashed in the younger demigod's eyes and reflected off his expression. "Do you... remember anything else?"

"River... it's connected to something like... like... jumping?" Piper blinked back her surprise.

"So, you remember jumping into a river? The River Styx?" Nico scrunched his eyebrows up in a way that Percy thought was cute, but that didn't call for the situation at hand.

"No, more like... fell. Yea, I fell into a river... But there was more... a-a reason behind it, like... ugh, I don't know, life?" Out of the corner of his eyes, Percy saw a shocked and stunned expression on his face, compared to the confused and bedraggled one on Nico's.

"Nico. Did you get pushed in the river? Or fall fighting?" His eyebrows knitted together again.

"I'm not sure... Can I get a drink of water?" He stood up and suddenly addressed Chiron, who was racking every part of his brain to figure out this enigma.

"Yes, but can you answer a quick question?" He continued with the cue of a hesitant nod. "Do you remember anybody next to you? Maybe they can tell us what happened. And did you fall by choice?"

"Um... I think... I fell by choice, and there was someone next to me... by the name of... of..." Suddenly the pale demigod jolted once and fell to the floor, knees giving out. Having the quickest reflexes, Percy jumped up and caught him before he fell. "Hades... his name was Hades... Bianca... Camp..." were the last words that Nico muttered out before losing conscious. Jason jumped up immediately after this fiasco.

"Nico dipped in the Lethe, didn't he?" Worry and shock were clearly written on his face. Chiron's face became grave and his voice turned into a hushed whisper.

"We don't know yet, but from the information, it looks like he did. Piper and Annabeth, take him to the infirmary now. Check his state. Percy, Leo and Jason, I need to talk to you three." The demigods split, one trio to the infirmary, and the other trio in front of Chiron.

"Doesn't the Lethe take memories?" Leo asked, hands completely still for once.

"But... but that means he doesn't remember anything! And he remembered Hades and Bianca!" Percy claimed, almost at the point of shouting.

"There's no other explanation, Percy. But this doesn't establish anything." Jason surprisingly was the calmest, now that the fact hit him hard. He knew that there was one sore subject that Nico didn't like to talk about: Percy.

Chiron cleared his throat. "Percy and Jason, can you Iris message Reyna? Ask for her permission to take Hazel on a little quest to the underworld, but don't tell Reyna anything about Nico and the River Lethe. Hazel, however, has the right to know. Leo, go and find Calypso and ask her on how to retrieve lost memories. You three can tell Calypso and Hazel, but nobody else. We don't need more people and extra rumors going on. Now, I have to tell the girls."

The three teens saw Chiron's figure go and trot in the vague direction of the infirmary. "Well, then, I'll go to Calypso now. Inform Valdez when more news on Nico comes up. See you." Leo ran and nearly flew to his bunk from the Big House, where his girlfriend was. Not long after, he was talking a mile per minute with flames flickering around his waving hands. That happened a lot when he got super antsy, anxious, or worried; in this case, it was all three.

On the other hand, Percy and Jason had an outward calm, but for different reasons. Percy felt numb, like he couldn't feel anything but hear the news that hit him hard over and over again in his head much like a broken recorder, while Jason felt like it was his responsibility to get Nico's memories back, and that panicking wasn't going to help with anything. They were on the way the to Poseidon cabin which had a fountain with an automatic rainbow always forming. Jason didn't feel neither safe nor happy about entering the green-eyed teen's cabin but then again, he would do almost anything to retrieve Nico's lost memories.

Throwing a drachma inside the rainbow, Percy monotonously said, "Reyna, Camp Jupiter". The praetor had been reading a fairly thick novel but as soon as Jason spoke out, she prepared herself for battle, grabbing the nearest weapon possible- a broom. When she spotted the Iris message, her cheeks flushed and she immediately dropped the cleaning tool.

"Hello, Jason, Percy. How nice of you to Iris message me, but I suppose at this rushed time, this isn't just a 'I-missed-you' message, is it?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Listen bab- Reyna. We need to borrow Hazel for a little trip. Can she go?" A look of surprise spread within her features.

"I suppose why not? But what is this 'little trip'?"

"Uh..." Just at this time, Percy took over.

"My dog ran away to the underworld, and we think that Hazel would be resourceful in the hunt." He tried a stupid grin but the praetor wasn't fooled that easily.

"Percy, you seem... remote, distant. There's something more, isn't there?" Jason shook his head, barely noticeable, in reply to the question.

"I'll fill you up later. Can she come tomorrow morning? It's kinda urgent." Percy wanted Nico to remember the past badly, but then a sliver of doubt filled his heart. What if he didn't want to remember? What if Nico hated Percy after getting his memories back? What if Nico still hates Percy without his memories? What if Nico dies in the infirmary?

'Screw the what if's.' Percy finally concluded.

"Yes, she can. Good luck on finding your dog Percy. Jason, don't be too much trouble for him."

"What're you going to do about it?"

"No kissing for a month." Jason groaned.

"That's too cruel. You're too cruel." Percy cracked a small smile.

"Ahem," Percy got the attention of the two 'flirting' demigods. "Don't worry Reyna, he won't be. See you later," and cut the connection. "She's not serious, right?"

"Truthfully," Jason replied honestly, "I don't know. I hope she isn't."

"Aw. 'Cause if it was, I would have the pleasure of hearing you grumble about blue balls for the next month. Dang it." Jason chuckled darkly at Percy's statement.

"You better watch it, Jackson. I'll make sure that you take a good, long plane ride. Just no plane."

"Okay, okay. No need bringing your daddy into this." Because the two sons of the Big Three were talking, they didn't notice the silent figure open and close the door, walking in.


	4. Ask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the characters seem a bit OOC~! Enjoy!

"Okay, okay, No need bringing your daddy into this."

"Who're you talking about?" a voice behind the two asked. Jason and Percy slowly turned around, to come face to face to the smaller demigod.

"What're you doing here?" Jason asked back softly.

"You don't want me here?" Nico asked cautiously.

"Aren't you suppose to be in the infirmary?"

"Do you not want me here?" Nico asked again, a little less careful this time.

"Aren't you tired? Does it hurt anywhere?" Percy cut in their conversation, running his eyes over the half-Italian's body for any injuries (and maybe some other causes).

"Why're you answering all my questions with questions?"

"I don't know." Jason answered back with a shrug.

"So, who were you talking about?"

"Oh, um," Jason hesitated for a bit. "My dad."

"Do you do that often?" Innocent brown eyes met knowing sky-blue ones.

"I... Guess? I mean, I don't meet him often, and him being the god of the skies and the Olympians, I don't really think of him as a... Dad."

"God of the skies and... Oh, oh, you mean Zeus?"

"Uh, yea. Zeus. Jupiter."

"So, Nico, what are you doing here?"Percy interjected.

The fifteen-year-old hesitated visibly, something that the old Nico wouldn't do. Percy mentally smacked himself at the thought. This is Nico. Just... Not here. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you."

"Really?"

"I guess this is my cue to leave. See you guys tomorrow morning."

The blonde waved over his shoulder as he quickly left the Poseidon cabin.

"So," (much akwardness on Percy's part) "what do you need to tell me?"

"You're Perseus-"

"Percy."

"Jackson, right?" he continued with a nod. "I... Actually, I remembered more than just Camp Half-Blood."

"You lied to Chiron and the rest?" The son of Poseidon raised an eyebrow, earning a blush from the younger demigod. All Percy could think was, 'Wow. He looks cu- different. He should do that more often.'

"I didn't lie. You just implied it."

"Yea?"

"Yes. Now, I remembered two things after finding myself on the banks of the river. Camp Half-Blood and Bianca." Nico told Percy, matter-of-factly. It took a few minutes to sink in; when it finally did, the latter froze.

"B-bianca, huh?"

"Yea, and I felt that you were the one to know." Nico looked up the six inches that he was missing, meeting Percy's eyes. He was confused by the saddened and nostalgic look in the sea-green eyes.

Percy ruffled ebony-black hair.

"You're a good kid, Nico." The younger demigod was once again confused by the gesture.

"What do you me-" Percy cut him off in a body-crushing hug.

"Don't change. Please. For me." Nico blinked. Change? Change into what? A monster? For him? Why? A million-plus questions ran through his head, but he asked one that he really wanted, no needed, to know.

"Can you tell me more about myself?"

"Huh?"

"I mean," Nico scratched his head nervously. "I don't know much about myself, so can you like, tell me? I don't remember anything. I didn't even know my real name down at the river." Percy noticed that the young teen remembered Bianca, but not his own name. A fresh, new tide of guilt washed over his heart (no pun intended). How much place did his past sister have in his heart? So that he would remember her rather than himself?

"Let's see. Your name is Nico di Angelo. You usually wear black. You're 5'6. You're kinda antisocial, you ha-"

"Other than that. Like my personality. I don't know who I am. It sounds kinda weird, but I want an identity. Someone that I can be." Nico looked up from his shoes. "And doesn't di Angelo mean the angel? In... Italian? How'd I know that?"

"Well, it's your name, and you're Italian, half-Italian, so I mean... I guess you would know since you know the language."

"Huh. Then what's the other half?"

"Excuse me? What other half?"

"You said that I was half-Italian. What's my other half?"

"God." Percy didn't hesitate to say it. Nico deserved to know who he actually was, and this feeling came from experience. "Half Olympian god. Your father is Hades."

"God of... The underworld, right?" The brunette nodded. "Then who's your father?"

"Poseidon, god of the sea."

"Cool, then can you surf really well?" A rush of dejavu hit Percy.

"I guess. I can bodyboard?"

"Didn't Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades fight a lot? Did Jason, you and me get into big fights?"

"Not really... I mean, we fought once, Jason and I fought once. I'm not sure about you and Jason, though."

There was a moment of silence between them, everything but the rush of water from the cabin fountain in the Poseidon cabin.

"There's something about Jason. He knows something. That I know. A secret, with a god of love?"

"Aphrodite?"

"No, but," he hesitated, something that he did a lot since 'the river incident'. "he knows something."

"Do you want me to get him?"

"N-no, it's fine. I got it!" Percy nearly jumped three feet at that.

"Got what?"

"Cupid!"

"Got Cupid? Cupid, the god of l- oh."

"Leo? The Latino elf?"

"Huh? Latino elf?"

"Yea, and he's got ears like that. I mean, he's the shortest out of you guys."

"Actually, that would be you, since you are also part of our group."Nico frowned. "Something wrong?"

"What is our group?"

"Um, the ones at Camp Half-Blood are you, me, Jason, elf, Piper, Annab- what?" The son of Hades burst out laughing.

"You called him the elf!"

"Oh yea. I did." Percy displayed mock horror on his face. "You made me."

"It's not my fault you're so gullible. Is that a word?"Nico pronounced the questioned word gill-ee-ble. 'Wow, that's cute. He's cute. Wait, what?' Percy ignored his thumping heart as he avoided the question.

"I'm dyslexic and ADHD. Don't ask me." A knock interrupted them.

"There's sword practice right now," Jason's voice called through the door, "you're gonna miss it. Oh, and Percy? Almost the whole camp bet on us?"

Percy opened the door.

"For what?"

"On who's gonna win. You or me."

"What are the odds?"

" 'Bout half-half, but I've got the Ares cabin on my side and the Athena side."

"Man, that's not fair. You got both war cabins. I'm so much of a better swordsman."

"Egotistic, much? So who're you voting for, Nico?"

"Ummm, I'm choosing... Percy?"He looked more confused that Jason, who had complete understanding on his face, like he predicted that was going to happen.

"Then let's go."


	5. Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone was in for a surprise.

The sound of swords clashing and cheers drove the two sons of the Big Three into harder and stronger clashes of their swords.

"You're going down, Superman," Percy panted as he dodged a blow narrowly, then diving into offense.

"Not if I bring you down first," was the heated reply. Around the two battling demigods was a huge crowd, of everyone that was currently at camp. Different shouts were called out such as 'Get him, Percy!' or 'You can do it, Jason! Where's that son of Jupiter power!' and even a 'Beat that sissy!' (but nobody knew who the sissy was). Nico glanced nervously around him, knowing that he would probably know the strangers surrounding the arena. He should, but he didn't. It was like he lost his grip on something, and that something was his memories.

Unknown to Nico's inner battle, the crowd cheered and yelled louder for the close-ending sparring match. Soon the son of Poseidon and the son of Jupiter were close range within each other, swords literally making sparks fly from the pressure. As it looked like, it was a match of pure strength and it was pretty even.

"Why don't you back down? No use in losing a lost battle," Jason almost growled at his adversary.

"Well, a lost battle for you." Percy shot back, sweat trailing down his face.

"C'mon. I've got both war cabins on my side. And you know that the Athena cabin is never wrong."

"Well," Percy grinned, "I've got Nico on my side. And he could see the outcome of every battle. You know from the war."

"Hmm. Are you sure that it isn't just some certain... feelings?" Percy grew red and Jason laughed. Suddenly one of the two ducked out of their current position and rolled to the side, swinging his left leg to hook the surprised demigod's ankles, making him lose balance. Before the fallen could react, he felt something pointy against his chest. Then, the spar was over. The demigod with the upper hand removed his weapon and helped the other one up. The two teens patted each other on the back like 'real men'.

"Looks like I win then," Percy said. A cheer erupted throughout the crowd, and many people were sticking their hands deep into their pockets for lost bet money. Both demigod's walked into the crowd, laughing and talking animatedly. The son of Poseidon found Nico talking with Annabeth. She had a nostalgic look on her face, or a surprised one if you look at it in another light.

Percy and Jason met with the rest of their friends, who were congratulating the two on the 'awesome battle then left girls swarming around them' quoted by Leo. Jason turned to Nico.

"Looks like you bet on the right person."

"Yea, I guess I did."

"Yea man, "Percy joined in on their conversation, "I really don't think I wouldn't have won without your support."

Then Nico did something that surprised everyone.

He reached up on his tiptoes... and kissed Percy.


	6. Lost

Then Nico did something that surprised everyone, including himself. He reached up on his tiptoes... and kissed Percy. It wasn't a full-blown kiss; just one on the cheek. Nevertheless, Percy's cheerful laughter suddenly stopped and gave way to scarlet cheeks upon feeling the son of Hades's soft lips. The doer himself seemed shocked, and instantly reeled back, stuttering with a bright pink face, which the green-eyed teen thought suited him just fine (no perverted thoughts... Probably).

"Uhh, s-sorry, I didn't mean t-to, I-I mean it's j-just like a-a... M-my body moved on it's o-own?" Jason was the first one to recover, knowing that it was something both wanted, and possibly, needed.

"Hey, it might be something called muscle memory. You know, since you don't remember anything, it could be that your body wanted to or something... You know, Percy?" The son of Poseidon glared at the grinning blonde, testing how far he would push the limits while his crush put on a thoughtful face.

"Really? That's interesting. Then why would I've wanted to do it? When I actually had my memories?"

Jason's complexion paled and his grin dropped, turning into a grim line. He was the only one alive (and maybe dead) who knew of his biggest fear/secret. After the meeting with Cupid and seeing the fragile state of the son of Hades, the blonde swore to himself that he would never tell anybody else the secret unless he got Nico's permission.

"I wonder why..." Jason muttered quietly, if not, sadly.

"Hey, Jason. Does it have anything to do with Cu-" suddenly, the son of Hades jolted and fell to the floor in an almost-seizure.

"Shoot. It's another memory lapse..." Jason muttered while knelling down next to the son of Hades and scooped him up, talking to one of the Apollo kids, telling him to take the unconscious demigod to the infirmary. When the kid looked a bit hesitant, Jason rolled his eyes and asked if he thought a demigod who had just fainted from having a seizure would harm him in his sleep.

After that problem was solved and Jason knew that Nico would be safely kept in the infirmary, he walked back to the rest of the group.

"Hey, anybody else starving? Just looking at you two made me hungry," Piper joked, rubbing her stomach, trying to lighten the suddenly dark mood. She then pulled Jason, the closest one to her out of their little 'group' and dragged him to the mess hall. Every else then started to follow, the crowd clearing out of the arena. Percy found himself somewhere near the back, in step with a certain daughter of Athena.

"You know," Annabeth said, "I never thought Nico could've ever been like that. It's like he's a different person."

"Yea. But you should've seen him when we first met him right after you, you know, fell off the cliff."

"How was he like?"

"Happy. Cheery. Geeky. C- Different from now." Percy turned his head to the side to hide his slight blush from Annabeth. She didn't seem to notice.

"It happened when Bianca died, right?"

"Yea."

A moment of silence followed.

"It actually might be better if he doesn't regain his memories." Percy's head whipped around to face the blonde.

"What makes you say that?"

"Don't freak out, Percy. It's just that... He seems so burden-free. Like there was nothing on this earth that could ever bother him. Nico before, all he held was resentment and bitterness and anger. Now he could let it all go."

"But I don't think he wants it this way."

"How do you- oh." Percy gave her a wary smile. "Memory loss. I've got an expert next to me."

Another silence followed.

"How did you feel when you lost your memories?" Annabeth inquired.

"I felt like I lost my grip on something. Something important. And it was frustrating. There was this one time where I punched a book shelf because I couldn't remember anything." Percy snorted. He sighed. "Gods, I'm tired."

"Then why don't you go rest in your cabin? A surprising as it may seem, you don't look very hungry to me." Annabeth lightly punched him in the arm. "I'll tell the others you were tired, and went to crash." He gave her a grateful smile.

"Thanks wise girl. I know I can count on you," and he left for the Poseidon cabin. The said demigod smiled up and faced the darkening sky with its newly-showing stars.

"Anytime seaweed brain, anytime."


	7. Prophesize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where did he go?

Percy shivered. Even though he was tired from the exercises that he performed throughout the day and his body yawned, his mind couldn't stop reeling. After half an hour of tossing and turning, the green-eyed demigod threw the blankets aside and put on a sweatshirt, his worry getting the better of him. He was walking towards the infirmary when he met a certain fiery red-head.

"Woah, who ar- Percy? What are you doing here?" Rachel cocked her head to the side, voicing her confusion as of why the young hero is roaming around the camp at midnight.

"W-well, what about you?"

"I'm going to prank the Stolls for what they did earlier today right after lunch," and before the son of Poseidon could say anything, she sighed and put her hands on her hip. "You know, you really are stupid. Going to the infirmary just because you're worried about him doesn't mean you can roam around camp. But don't worry, there's no watch over the infirmary today." This time, it was Percy's time to be confused.

"Why not? What if something happens?"

She sighed again.

"You idiot. I'm watch today. I'll let you by like a good friend, but next time, help me prank the Stolls. By-"Suddenly, there was a green glow around the Oracle as smoke seemed to come out of her open mouth. "Listen carefully son of Poseidon..." At this, Percy brought out Riptide, and tried writing on his arm- it worked.

"The daughter of love shall be captured and sealed

Until the owl comes to repeal

The sea and death will clash against

Until the sealing of vows have commenced

The hidden angel shall never resurface

Until the son of Poseidon retrieves the mace

Despair shall reign as the loner

Until Elpis once again takes over

Soon will be nothing more than a memory

Until the turn of the century."

After the oracle-outburst, Percy caught the falling red-headed girl. Without thinking, he lifted her bridal-style and ran to the Big House, where Chiron must've been.

Not being able to knock, he shouted the centaur's name as loudly as he could until the door hastily opened.

"Percy? What are you doing here?" 'What is it with repeated sequences today?' he thought sourly.

"I, uh, met Rachel and she fainted after the Oracle spoke a prophesy. I should've brought her to the infirmary, but the prophesy... So I ran here." Understanding, Chiron brought the (awake) demigod into the Big House.

"So do you remember the prophesy?" He squinted at the unconscious teen on the couch and squinted at his arm. He, surprisingly, caught all of it although there were certain spelling mistakes.

"Daughter of love, a daughter of Aphrodite or Cupid/Eros... Who is somehow related to the owl, a sign of Athena, repeals, but repeal what? And the sea and death shall clash against, titans? No, I'm assuming that they're Poseidon and Hades, although... Vows? Promises? Swearing on the River Styx? Maybe.." Percy squirmed slightly in his seat and waited for Chiron's muttering to die down.

"Maybe 'the owl captures and seals the daughter of love'? Athena? And if the sea and death stands for my dad, well, Poseidon and Hades, then maybe the Olympians fight against each other? Wait, wouldn't there be WWIII then?"

"That would be very unsettling and the world would be filled with chaos if the twelve Olympians did fight. Well, Percy, you can go to your cabin now. I'll take Rachel to the i-"

"Actually, I can go Chiron. You look, uh, tired..."

After stifling a yawn, Chiron agreed. He didn't seem to catch the actual reason for Percy's visit to the infirmary.

When he got there, he gently put down the red-headed oracle on the nearest spare bed and hurriedly looked for a small, dark figure under covers. His worry increased dramatically as each empty bed passed by, and he only had one question when he reached the other side of the room.

Where is he?


	8. Cross

"Where is he?" Percy mentally asked himself. Suddenly, something touched Percy's shoulder, and before his mind caught up, the son of Poseidon grabbed the wrist (?) and pushed the small body (?) against the wall.

"S-sorry, I d-d-didn't k-know you didn't li-ike b-being touched... I-I'm s-sorry..." A small, squeaky voice came out. The son of Poseidon immediately let go.

"Nico? What are you- nevermind. No, it's fine. I'm just paranoid. I was looking for you and I couldn't find you, so I got worr-" Percy shut his mouth, then opened it again, gaping a bit and resembling a fish. "Forget the last part."

"You were worried about me?" The smaller demigod looked up and the moonlight made his skin look like it was glowing, something that Percy had never noticed before. "Why?"

"Why wouldn't I be? You're like the little brother that I never had," ruffling his hair, Percy mentally snorted. 'Little brother my ass,' he thought, almost scornfully.

"Oh." If Percy caught Nico's slight disappointment, he didn't let it show on his face. " 'Cause the way people look at me here doesn't make me feel welcome. But Annabeth keeps looking at me like I'm some kicked puppy. I swear I'm not!"

"She didn't mean to," Percy sighed softly and knew that the younger demigod knew that something was up, but didn't treat on the subject. Instead he gently touched the green-eyed demigod's arm, not really knowing what to feel.

"So, I heard from Jason that you two're going somewhere tomorrow... Or today. It's past midnight." They both stared at the ticking clock on the wall of the infirmary.

"Something like that... Wait, aren't you going with us?"

"I am?"

"Y-yea, to try and get, you know, your memories back..." He hesitated. Percy didn't know how to talk about Nico's memories like they weren't there, like he wasn't there at all.

"Cool. Where are we going?"

"To the Underworld, to see your father."

"Ha... Hades? The guy that was with me at the river?"

"I guess... What happened there? I don't mean to make you feel pressured, but... We're all trying to figure out what happened to you."

"I remember a gray river, and a tall, pale man standing next to me.. And there was a woman, an old hag," Nico furrowed his eyebrows, as if looking for something in front of him.

"Who?"

"I don't know, that's the thing."

"Well," Percy decided to drop the matter, "we should be getting some rest. We're heading out first thing tomorrow with Hazel."

"?"

"You'll see. But if she hugs you, don't freak out or push her away."

"Okay...?"

Silence.

"Can I ask you a question Percy?" The stated demigod nodded. "Did you not like the kiss from before?"

"H-huh? W-what? This kiss? Um... I-I don't know what to say, Nico, i-it was like umm..." Percy crossed his fingers and hoped for the best. "Cool." 'Nice move, Jackson.'

"So you, like, didn't hate it?"

"N-not at all," he spotted a faint red hue to the half-Italian's cheeks.

"So, uh, see you tomorrow?"

"Yea. That would be nice." And they headed off towards their own chambers, hearts racing, for the day that was to come.

"Nico!" An African-American girl who appeared to be younger than Nico jumped off of a copper-tan horse and hugged him. With a warning look from Percy, Nico awkwardly embraced the golden-eyed demigod and tried to respond correctly.

"Err, hi? Hazel? Nice to see you too?"

"Nico? Don't you... Recognize me?"Percy mentally cussed to himself. Hazel was a sharp one, that was for sure.

"Of... Course?"

"Why are you saying that like it's a question?"

"Because he's suppose to but can't," Jason replied bluntly. With permission from Chiron, he told the daughter of Pluto about Nico's mysterious appearance drenched in water and his memory loss.

"Sorry." Nico cast his eyes down and shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"It's not your fault. Well, I better introduce myself. Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, belonging to Fifth Cohort, girlfriend of Frank Zhang, and your half-sister."

"I would introduce myself but... Is it just me or is that horse eating gold?"

"You four should better get going," Chiron interjected, "It's half past seven." Saying their farewells, they left the camp (Arion bolting somewhere by himself to find some more food.)

"So where are we going?"Jason asked Hazel once they were in a mortal taxi and speeding to a nearby crosscountry-bus stop.

"We need to get to Los Angeles. At the base of a mountain is an opening to the Underworld. With luck, we'll only need a couple hours to arrive at the palace."

"And if we're not lucky?" Percy inquired, munching on a snack bar.

"A few days at most," Hazel said reassuring. Nevertheless, it bothered the sons of the other two Big Three.

"Three days underground, no sky..." Jason muttered, looking out the window of the taxi. An hour later, they were waiting at the bus stop, practically in the middle of nowhere, the single path boarded by forests on both sides. Hazel was telling Jason about the renovation and improvements of New Rome while Percy was dozing off against the bus stop pole. Nico didn't know what to do, and with the lack of thoughts in his head, he stared dumbly at the other side of the road.

Questions ran through his head. What am I doing here? Why did I lost my memories? Why don't I remember anything? What happened? Why do I black out a lot? Why did I.. kiss Percy? He kept running the same questions over his head- until a person appeared on the other side of the road. Not the normal hitchhiker either. Just not there- blink- and then there. What the...?

Nico noticed that different faces seemed to appear, all in agony or wearing an expression of horror, but when he concentrated harder, he could see a hunched over lady. She smiled with missing teeth and waved her hand, motioning for Nico to cross the street. A voice rang in his head.

"Come now, child. I know you want to. It's easy. Come child, come." As if his body started to move on his own, the son of Hades slowly took a tentative step towards the street, and then another, and another. Soon, he was on the street, and could faintly hear screams of his name. It was behind him, all behind him. Nothing was bothering him. It was like he was floating. A narrow tunnel seemed to appear and all he could focus on was getting to the other side of the street. The lady. The tunnel. A flash of light. "Nico!" A girl's shrill scream over the roar of a loud, long honk. More shouts, but this time, masculine. The lady. Still beckoning with her hand, but her grin wider than ever. Light blinding his view.

He snapped out of it.

Blinking again, the lady seemed to disappear, but hearing his name called, he turned his head to the right. The light seemed to be getting nearer and nearer. It was.

A truck was heading towards him and Nico was transfixed, pupils dilated.

Percy yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Nico!"

Nico closed his eyes.


	9. Hitchhike

"Nico!" With a yell, Percy burst across the street and then pulled the smaller demigod towards him, so he fell on him. The passing-by truck swerved and hit a tree, and driver coming out with concern on his face.

"Kid! You okay?"

"H-huh? Y-yea..." The son of Jupiter helped them and Hazel hugged Nico close, close to tears. "I'm fine..."

"Sorry, son. Car went out of control and the brake didn't work. Don't know what happened there. Like the devil itself went berserk and took my truck." Three demigods exchanged looks. If not a monster or god, then what?

"Did it just turn all of a sudden, or...?" Jason asked, curious and cautious.

"I couldn't see the kid 'til he was about five feet away from me, and it was like he popped up out of nowhere. He's not there, I blink, and he's there! Son, what were you doing out there?"

"I, uh, tripped over a rock. I probably g-got up... Sorry."

"No, not your fault. But you four kids waiting for someone? Goin' on a trip?"

"Sort of like that," Percy quickly said. "By the way, I'm Percy. That's Jason, Hazel, and Nico.

"Nice to meet you four. The name's Marc." The two groups briskly shook hands with each other.

"Do you know when the next bus is coming?" Jason inquired.

"Son, this bus route's been closed for over a decade."

"Oops," Hazel quietly said, suddenly finding her shoes much more interesting than anything else at the moment.

"Do you know another bus stop?"

"Where you kids need to go?"

"Los Angeles," all four piped up at the same time.

"Long trip. I can take you guys for a bit if you want,"

"Really?" Hazel looked up.

"Sure. Delivery stop. I'm going to Chicago. I know a route that goes to California. You guys can hitchhike in the back." His blue eyes twinkled. "Unless of course, you can cope with Ol' Tommy."

"Who?" Percy accidentally blurted out.

The man whisted. "Here, Ol' Tommy!" Suddenly, a blur of brown and white attacked the nearest person- who happened to be Nico.

"Woah!" The huge Saint Bernard almost toppled the brunette down.

"Oh, he's such a cutie." Hazel had a dreamy look on her face, while Jason and Percy just shrugged.

Climbing into the back with "Ol' Tommy", they made themselves snug and waited for the blue-eyed man to check out the truck. It turned out to be perfectly fine. After a rumble, the car started to move and the Saint Bernard made comfortable in Nico's lap, practically burying him in masses of fur.

After about ten minutes of silence and whatnot, the four demigods (after making sure that Marc didn't accidentally overhear) looked at each other. Nico noticed that they haven't pulled out of the forest yet, but the trees were clearing, probably for the freeway.

"So," Jason pulled out a map from his backpack. "Where exactly is this opening?"

"There are actually two," Hazel explained. "One's in Central Park, but-"

"Then why aren't we going there?"Jason exclaimed, making Ol' Tommy lift his head in a drowsy fashion.

"That's what I'm getting at. You need music to make the opening actually op-"

"Can't one of you sing?"Percy asked, looking a shade of innocent. The daughter of Death seemed extremely annoyed by the fact that the two older demigods continuously interrupted her but kept her patience in check.

"Even if we do open it, it's far more dangerous than the one in Los Angeles. And since there wasn't anyone who-"

"Nico and I have," Percy interjected once again. Nico gave him a puzzling look.

"But do you know where to go?"Nico asked, stroking the asleep dog.

Percy looked hesitant.

"No, but you did."

"That's why it's more dangerous. We could get lost on the way and not surface for the longest of times." Two sons of the big three shuddered at thought, like that morning.

"So longer than three days?" Jason ignored the 'I-told-you-so' look that he received from Hazel.

"So, when do we get th-" A blast into the side of the car abruptly stopped all conversation. The four demigods braced themselves and shielded their faces when the car went flying into a pine tree, this time making a mark. Marc stormed out of the pick-up truck, squinting at the sky.

"What in blazers' name?!"


	10. Fear

Another blast cut him off, sending him sprawling.

"Marc!" Nico cried out. Two more blasts quickly cut them off, sending dirt and stones flying in their direction. Percy and Jason had quickly took out their swords, swinging when the flying monster-bird things got too close. Hazel quickly dug out gems and jewels of every kind, hitting the birds of prey that strangely resembled vultures, except they looked like they belonged in a museum. Their feathers seemed to be glued onto the creatures, and through the layer of feathers, the demigods could see white-turning-yellow bones.

"Nico!" Percy yelled, "use the sword at your side!" Fortunately, the amnesiac had not parted with his weapon of choice. Pulling it out, Nico felt it's weight, awfully familiar, and swung it around. It felt like an extension of his arm. He rolled aside and swung again but this time in a deadly arc, disintegrating one of the bird creatures to dust. 'Muscle memory,' the son of Hades recalled what Jason had told him it was before.

A couple moments later, a gunshot sounded in the air, and a bird shot off to the side, not hurt but incredibly pissed. Marc held a shotgun and was aiming for the bird's heads.

"What the hell are those things?!"Marc asked nobody in particular. "Why do them birds have only them feathers and bones?!"

"You can see through the mist?" Percy inquired.

"Bloody hell! Watch out kid!" He yelled to Hazel. Uncovering a little dagger, she ducked out of the bird's path and swiftly stabbed it in the stomach region, where it immediately burst into feathers and dust. A couple minutes later, only one bird remained, and seeing that it had no more companions or allies, it fled, retreating from the former battle scene.

"So anybody tellin' me why I either am or ain't hallucinating?" Marc leaned on his car for support.

"Those were monsters, Marc," Jason tried to reason with him, "and you weren't hallucinating. You can see these kind of things while other mortals can't."

"Mortals, eh? So you guys not mortal?"

"Half. We're, uh, half-god, half-mortal." Hazel sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"So... You guys all related?"

"That is..." Percy started. "We're kinda related. But we don't tend to count the Greek side of our family as actual DNA."

"Greek gods?"

"Marc. Calm down. Don't hyperventilate. I'm sorry we didn't tell you earlier, but we didn't know if you would believe us or not," Jason made up. Sort of.

"Where's Ol'Tommy?" Nico asked, looking around. Suddenly, a huge shadow covered his face and something fluttered down, which he caught. The lone bird that wasn't turned into dust squawked and landed on the ruins of the car. Everybody looked at it but one.

Instead, Nico was staring at the parchment paper than had floated, strangely, into his hand. The bird flew away and puzzled the rest of them. Why hadn't it attacked? Where was it going? Why had it come in the first place? Percy was the first to notice Nico's eyes trained on the paper.

"What's that, Nico?" Nico slowly walked over to him, his face turning paler and eyes growing wider in fear.

"It's her," he whispered. His voice seemed to be drowned out by the calling of the bird, perched on a high branch in a tree, which resembled a long cackle.


	11. See

Hazel gently put a hand on her half-brother's shoulder, signifying comfort and just simply reminding him that they were there for him.

"Nico? What do you mean it's her?"

"T-the woman." Feeling a sense of dread overcome him, Percy shifted over to where Nico was and saw the blonde son of Jupiter doing the same. When his eyes landed on the picture, something smart came out of his mouth. Something along the lines of 'huh?'.

"Nico, there's..." Hazel hesitated. "There's nothing there."

"Can't you guys feel it though?" The son of Hades looked at us with expectant eyes, yet received nothing. The other three exchanged glances. Visions? Daydreams? Omens? Hazel gently addressed him.

"Feel what?"

"A dark sort of energy... Or something, it's like... Like..." he struggled for words while furrowing his brow. "Like magnetic push or pull. But if you squint, there's a, um, black mist thingy surrounding it," he animately waved his hands and pointing at the paper. Percy squinted, but only made his vision obscure.

"Holy mates, he's right!" Jason's blonde head whipped around his shoulder in surprise.

"Marc?!"He half-exclaimed, half-asked.

"Why, would you look at that. There' a black fog hanging around that paper. Look's like the devil's work himself! And hey, lookie there, there's somethin' in the corner," he pointed and Nico pulled the paper closer to him. There was a black blot of ink that didn't seem to be deliberately put there. But when they looked closer, it seemed to be a picture of a dog in the yellowed corner. Percy and Jason did a double-take.

"Which goddess uses a dog as a symbol?" Percy's voice had a hint of worry in it. " 'Cause I don't wanna run into any minor gods."

Nico frowned. "Why?"

"They're not exactly the most pleasant..." Percy trailed off while Jason looked at them.

"They could be skinny cows," he pointed out, drawing out the syllables slowly. Hazel rolled her eyes while Marc chuckled. They both earned looks from the children of the big three.

"It's a wolf." Percy frowned, Jason blinked several times, and Nico blushed. "Oh."

Jason stared at the paper. "But still, who-"

"-uses a wolf as a symbol?"Percy cut him off. They glared at each other for a bit before laughing. Hazel muttered something like 'boys' under her breath and then turned to Marc.

"So," she hesitated.

"Of course, I can let you young'uns hitchhike. I mean, no more of those things... Right?"

Percy cleared his throat. "Not in particular. We probably scared them away..."

"Well, I've gotta go soon. Hop right on in."

Nico stared at the mortal while the others got into the car. "You're not scared or anything?"

"Why would I be?" Marc replied in a pleasant matter. "I've always been an adventure man. You know, nothing can hold me down. I blame it on me father. Well, get in. Ol' Tommy seems to like you enough to tackle you." Nico got in and was almost immediately covered by the bear-like canine.

After most of the day with only minor monster attacks that didn't seem to be troublesome, they shared a quickly lunch/dinner with fruits and granola bars from what they've packed. (And Percy seemed asked for everything with a 'damn' in front of it, and silently smiling about it; Hazel raised her eyebrows suspiciously before Percy told her it was in inside joke.) After finishing and getting comfortable, Jason spoke up.

"We should be getting rest, since you know, we might meet trouble on the way there." Jason sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, positioning his backpack so it would stop pressing hardly against his back.

Hazel replied by nodding and yawning while Percy just gave him a look that said 'no, really? We're a quartet of traveling demigods, all children of the big three. I wonder what's going to happen?' Nico, it seemed, was already asleep. Hazel followed suit. The son of Poseidon felt the slow rumble and growl of the car beneath him give some comfort as he thought about his mother's own rackety car, but he felt like he couldn't sleep until the problem was fixed. So he contemplated to staring dumbly at the scenery.

"You know, Percy," Percy jumped and his eyes shifted over to the blonde, who was watching the half-Italian carefully, with a special light in his eyes. The brunette's insides seemed to rearrange themselves and his mind ran almost purely on instinct. For what purpose, he didn't know. He replied curtly. "Yea?"

"Nico's a good kid," Jason said, looking over the the son of Poseidon. Percy steadily met the other's gaze.

"I know."

"Don't do anything that would hurt him. Because if you do, I will have to do something to you."Percy's eyes held a dangerous glint to it, as if challenging him. Silence answered Jason, so he addressed the greek again. "He's got more than enough on his mind... And if you come to realization of something, don't react any differently to him. Don't feel like he needs your pity. Even if he's lost his memories, he's still there. Nico's not gone, Percy. Never will be." The brunette was about to give some short reply, but he saw the desperation in the son of Jupiter's eyes. He wasn't trying to convince only his comrade; he needed to convince himself.

"I know. I've always known. Now as your senior, I can tell you off to bed," Percy grinned weakly. Jason returned it and then fell asleep. Looking up,the green-eyed teen realized that the day was almost over. A full two day without Nico's memories. A Full two days without recover.

"If only I had gorgon blood...' he thought outloud. He raised a hand to gently stroke the peacefully sleeping son of Hades's hair; it was soft to the touch. "Are you gonna hate me once you remember?" He sighed. His feelings didn't matter; all he needed was to see Nico complete and happy.

The huge dog (more of a bear, Percy thought) looked at him with amber eyes and gave a soft bark, as if reciprocating with him. "I know boy, I know. I'm screwed."


	12. Travel

It had already been seven days. The quartet had traveled almost all the way Los Angeles; there were relatively minor monster attacks, and there were no more vulture-like creatures like with Marc. Marc, in stead, had accepted them to be sane and dropped them off exactly as he had promised to do. They were in pursuit of the Underground opening; during this whole time, Nico could've sworn he could feel the strange hag's 'powers' or 'immortality' while they got nearer and nearer to their destination. A cold chill overcame him at night, and goosebumps trailed up and down his arms. He wished they could reach their destination sooner, for 'his' memories. Thinking about it, he just ran in circles and his head hurt. So he didn't. He would just do anything to stop Percy from making that worried-sad-angry face. It didn't suit him at all.

"It's going to take us less than a day to get there," Hazel explained. "We're almost there, and we can meet Hades to try and convince him that his son's memories are literally worth a lifetime."Percy scoffed while Jason's gaze wavered.

"I doubt immortals have any idea what a 'lifetime' means," the blonde shrugged. The sky rumbled and they all looked hesitantly up. Percy spoke up, his voice wavering with fear, anger, or rebellion. Maybe a little bit of all. "We should get going."They all agreed with him.

"Yea, and we should IM Camp-Half Blood when we get the chance to. I don't think there is going to be any reception in the Underworld," Percy joked sarcastically. The others looked at him weirdly, although Nico's thin lips were twitching upwards slightly. "I'm just saying."

Meanwhile, in Camp Half-Blood, a certain daughter of Athena was contemplating the meaning of the prophesy. She knew with all to much experience how life-threatening and devastating the words from Rachel can be. Annabeth paced the meeting room of the Big House, her girlfriend's kaleidoscopic eyes following her ever-panicking movement. "Calm down. You're going to die before you get any white hairs. Stop worrying so much. We got out of the last one just fine, didn't we?" The offspring of Aphrodite put on a charming smile and tried to calm her girlfriend down but the blonde didn't listen. Piper almost thought of charmspeaking her but she would never do that to someone so precious to her.

"The lines of the prophesy, 'the hidden angel shall never resurface until the son of Poseidon retrieves the mace...'Hidden angel, hidden angel... Oh, oh gods."

Piper put on a concerned face and put an encouraging hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"What's wrong?"The daughter of Athena turned to the child of love.

"Piper, the hidden angel. Nico's last name is di Angelo... Hidden and resurface... His memories!" Piper considered this and soon came to understanding on the same level as her girlfriend.

"So, Nico will never get his memories back until son of Poseidon retrieves the mace... Percy gets a mace?"

"No, probably an favor from a god or goddess." she frowned. "There's no actual god or goddess with a mace, even in Roman mythology. But I did some research-"

"Like you always do," Annabeth ignored her.

"Lethe is actually a goddess, not just the name of a river in the Underworld. However, she has a stronger opposite: Mnemosyne. She is the goddess of memory, remembrance, language, words, sight, writing, and patron of poets. She is considered on of the strongest children of Uranus and Gaia. Her siblings include Kronus, Iapetos, Oceanus, and Hyperion. She is also the mother of the nine muses with Zeus." The blonde slightly rambled, getting a tab bit off topic before Piper cut her off with a light kiss and chuckle.

"Okay, so what does that mini history lesson mean for us?" The blonde's expression immediately darkened.

"That might be where Percy, Jason, and Hazel have to go to. There's a pool called Mneosyne, like the river Lethe, but rumors say that they're next to each other. We really need to IM then. Like, right now." In response, the brunette fished in her pocket and took out a golden drachma. "Let's just hope that we make it in ti-." the blonde stopped mid-sentence and stared off into the distance.

"Annabeth? What's wrong? Another history lesson coming up?" A moment later, Piper found herself against the wall with a dagger to her neck. "W-wha?"

"Hmm, the daughter of love. Yes, this will be quite, ah, fun."

"Anna...beth... What's... Wrong with... You..." Piper struggled against the hand crushing her gut against the wall as well as the dagger, but no avail.

"Don't worry. You'll be quite safe with me. As long as you obey her queen's wishes," Annabeth laughed, but it seemed more sinister, more evil. Piper was aware of a pain in her head and fell to the ground, seeing black dots dance in front of her. The last thing she remembered before black out completely were golden eyes, staring down upon her face.


	13. Decide

"Strange" Percy muttered at the shimmering wall of rippling water as he tried again. He cleared his throat. "Camp-Half Blood, Annabeth Chase,"However, the golden drachma merely fell through the created rainbow. The others exchanged glances, although Nico and Hazel looked more intrigued.

"So, how does this work?" Hazel asked. Nico eagerly nodded. Percy shrugged and Jason scratched his head. The blonde answered them as the son of Poseidon picked up the coin from the ground with a sigh. "We never really thought of it. I guess with the goddess Iris."

"Oh yea. 'Cause she helps mucho in anything else," Percy muttered under his breath. He had waken up on the wrong side of the bed (or floor?) and the unworking IM call didn't exactly improve his foul mood. His gut told him that this was not going to be the best of days, and he trusted his gut more than his brain; well, most days on a mission was not the best.

"Let's just go," He sighed again. The quartet walked in front of the DOA Recording Studios, and Jason motioned for for the daughter of Pluto to go ahead. She stared at the three male demigods and instructed to take deep breaths. "It might be a while before we get any fresh air ag-" suddenly, her face distorted into a horrified expression, sorrow, then guilt. Percy and Jason rushed to her side, quickly asking if she was alright; the son of Hades, however, found himself facing the opposite way, where his back was, and pointing his black sword at the old hag that had been tormenting his mind throughout the whole way there. Before, he could vaguely feel her presence, but now, it was once again in full bloom. Nico felt Percy slowly put a hand on his shoulder. "Nico, what are you doing?"

"Can't you see, over there!" He pointed with his sword almost angrily. The son of Poseidon swerved out of line of the weapon.

"Wait, what are you seei-" a dry, high-pitched laugh came from where the old hag was, whom Percy could not see. He jumped with Jason (Hazel was on the floor muttering apologies and talking about resurrecting the old earth goddess). A voice came from the witch, but Percy simply thought that it had come from the wind. He couldn't put anything past the gods.

"What a clever, clever boy! Maybe you'll pass my next test," she laughed again before 'teleporting' to another place. Nico shifted his eyes from her to, well, her. Hazel had stopped the muttering but her eyes were still haunted. The golden orbs swirled over to the son of Hades, and her pale, chapped lips mouthed pleas to hin: help, please, Nico, make it stop.

Nico felt utterly useless, but continued to brandish the Stygian Iron at the old hag. "Who are you?" He demanded. She changed places once again.

"You're a smart boy," she simply replied, her face distorted into glee, "Father wouldn't be proud if you couldn't remember me." Nico grimaced and glanced over at the other three demigods who looked more lost than him. Life would've been hell, Nico thought, if all gods and goddesses were like this. No wonder he fell into the river.

Fell. River. Lethe.

His father. Their father. Hades.

In the Underworld. A small audience. Hades and...and...

Nico fell to the floor, sword clattering uselessly onto the ground, and put a hand on his throbbing temple. "L...Lupe..." The woman laughed- cackled- again.

"I see you remember me now, young man. Father wasn't very happy when you fell into the Lethe, oh he went on in a foul mood for several days. Think of it- the children of his beloved dead mortal," Lupe's voice dropped to an icy level and Percy could feel the animated, pure hatred and (surprisingly enough) fear, "One dead and the other practically gone. My, my. I tried to tell him that mortals were a pathetic race. But then again, my domain has decreased quite a bit. There aren't many with as many things in their hearts as you."

The ground underneath them rumbled slightly. Fissures were opened and air was released, but the ground didn't split part completely. Nico seemed to be battling with himself- a battle, Percy thought, that was worthless and futile. "Stop!" But this time, it wasn't Nico who called out.

The son of Poseidon stepped up. The ground stopped rumbling and Jason helped Hazel stood up, who noticed that the regular mortals around the area had fled, but not reported anything to authorities. Yet.

"What do you want from him. From us?"

"Brave, impudent boy. Not one of the sharper crayons, are you?"Percy stayed stock-still, not wanting to give the goddess the satisfaction that she oh so required and vouched for. "Such tall and noble spirit. Always for your friends, always for your loved ones. So much weight on your back. It's as if you're carrying your own sky." The green eyes narrow slightly but he didn't do as much flinch.

"What do you want," Percy declared. She laughed. Jason spoke up. "Picking on mortals that are so insignificant. The other gods must've done good to leave you to your own miserable business." The goddess's eyes narrow, akin to Percy's sea-green ones.

"You know nothing, boy. You haven't lived a lifetime, and if you don't learn to respect your elders than you won't live a very long one." That effectively shut all of the demigods up; each and every one of them knew that the immortals definitely had the power to end lives, no matter how petty their powers may seem. "Now, I have a proposition to make. Son of Poseidon, if you retrieve a simple weapon, then I'll allow you to pass into the Underworld and direct you to where you need to go."

"No offense," Hazel started, "but why can't we go now?"

"Um, she means no offense, and in fact, none of us do. But could we just go? I mean, it's like urgent," Jason expanded for her. Percy added on.

"Please?"

"But it could take days to travel to dear father. And I could give you a little invitation inside the palace?"

"But we could go immediately to the palace, couldn't we?" Hazel suddenly cried out in surprise. Lupe eyes narrowed, scorning her. "Little girl, you wouldn't know what it's like down there, and things have changed. For one who's lived for so long, you have a narrow mind. Worthless, and only makes things worse, like for your mother."

Tears sprang to golden eyes but she refused to let them fall. "Leave her alone!"

"And what will you do if I don't, little mortal? You've barely got your memories, and what else do you have?" She turned her gaze onto the son of Poseidon. "It's all up do you Perseus Jackson." The green-eyed teen felt a shiver running through his sine. He hated it when people used his full name; it usually meant that he was in detention, trouble, or mortal peril. The others looked at him each with different expressions: mainly confusion, fear, pity, and triumph (each that speaks for itself).

And yet the one that hit him the hardest was looking at the ebony-haired demigod's face. His pale complexion had changed into something like comfort, and some sort of understanding. His missing memories just added; Percy knew that the younger demigod was depending on him, possibly even trusting him with his life. He didn't know if he could take it; responsibility rested on his shoulders again. He squared them, however, and stared the goddess straight in the face.

"I'll do it."


	14. Curse

The monsters weren't going to give them a break in a while, Percy noted as Hazel rolled and jabbed another vulture. The other two were working together, and Nico didn't seem to have lost any of his fighting abilities, but looked almost overwhelmed by the natural instincts of his body. Jason was fairing just well, with minor cuts and bruises (mainly from tumbling under claws). The son of Poseidon ducked just in time for the huge avian to soar above his head; the grassy hills did nothing to help their situation, but made sudden movements and ducks harder. Cursing, he went after the vulture which cackled in what seemed to be amusement.

Despite Percy's former thoughts, the birds were isolated into groups and promptly fled. Dust swirled around their ankles as they tracked back together, getting back on the road for their current goal. The goddess's instruction's were simple: follow the path into the valley for about three hours. There, you will be met with a grassy hill and when yelling the right words hard enough, a giant will come out. If you manage to defeat the giant in any sort of duel, then you would be able to ask for one prize, and that, the weapon of Lupe- a mace. None of them had heard of it, but they weren't about to argue.

They were nearly there, as the hills started to become a bit steeper, although not necessarily higher. It was half an hour before Percy gave a noise of exasperation. "How the hell are we suppose to know which hill it is? The giant could be anywhere!"

Hazel frowned at his choice of language but did her best to answer his question. "she did say hat we had to yell, or speak loudly, so I guess the giant would hear us especially if there are echoes."

"But wouldn't Nico know?"" Jason interjected. "I mean, he did feel the aura, or whatever that was." The other three looked at the son of Hades who was currently furrowing his brows in concentration.

"What is it?" Hazel voice seemed to startle the son of Hades.

"Well," he rubbed the back of his head tentatively, "Lupe said that we had to yell the right words, right?"

"Yea..." The son of Poseidon didn't know where he was going with this. "Wait, what words?"

Nico nodded. "Exactly." The four contemplated their options, which didn't expand very far. Basically just one; yell as loud as they could until the giant showed himself. The son of Jupiter stated with a sigh.

"Um, oh reverend giant, grace us with your presence!" The only reply was his echo and the slight croaking of a bird. "Please!" The others started to try.

"We need to talk about something important," Nico yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth, "It's really important?"

"Respected giant!" Hazel sighed after her own failed attempt. The quartet went a bit further into the ups and downs of the grasslands, but still no avail. The son of Poseidon tripped on a rock, and cursed loudly. Suddenly, the ground underneath them started to rumble, bit by bit. Rocks rumbled down and the others knew that it was never a coincidence. Soon, the hills echoed back the most insulting things that they could come up at with the moment, mostly from the ex-praetors.

"Η μητέρα σας μυρίζει σαν χάλια της Ήρας!" Percy's greek was a little too fluent, Nico thought as he instantly understood, although he didn't know how.

"Braccas meas vescimini!" After the blonde shouted, a huge mound of dirt arose, and it took Percy a couple of moments to realize that they were staring at it's behind.

"Smell demigods..." The rumbling they took as muttering. "Demigods... Wakes me from slumber..."

Without another word, Percy pulled the closest one, Nico, with him to dodge to foreshadowed fist thrown at them. "Wait! We don't want to fight! We just want to-" a rush of wind from another punch, this time swiftly dodged by Jason, "talk! Just talk like civilized people, not gi- barbarians." Percy caught himself in time. The giant turned his eyes towards the tall brunette, and he noticed that the eyes concentrated on his were pale, a milky white: the giant was blind.

"Then speak son of Poseidon. What does thou wish from me?"

"Well," he drawled out. "Have you seen a mace anywhere? L-like a weapon? Of Lupe's? A mace, like a bat, or a club, I guess." He shrugged. The giant suddenly roared and the earth rumbled, coming to life.

"Clubs! The Fates! Wretched beasts! Thou witches dare try and implore me with petty demigods? No, I shall forfeit this game, or die trying! Feel Agruis's wrath!" And with that he struck. If it weren't for strict training with wolves and Romans, the son of Jupiter would've lost a head. Needless to say, he didn't and the fight progressed on. The children of death were swinging their swords dangerously at the vultures who had seemingly joined in on the fight. The other half of the team were circling the blind giant, taking serious precautions. He seemed to be able to sense their movements through the ground and sound waves. Percy was struck to the ground, not that hard, as he saw a hideous bird being smack in the eye with a fist sized ruby.

As they fought further on, Jason noticed that the giant couldn't only focus on two enemies at once; "Percy!" He called through hailing mounds of earth, "Attack same time!"

"Sure thing, Superman!" The blonde winced at the nickname but it wasn't long before dust pooled around their feet, not for the first time on this trip, and they had forced the giant onto the ground. The demigods were suffering from minor cuts and bruises; on the other hand, the giant, thankfully, had painful stab wounds and wine-red blood practically gushing from it's shoulder and calf wounds.

The son of Jupiter swung his sword, intimidating, and the air crackled with lightning but didn't actually hit. Percy held his sword at the giant's throat. His usually sparkling emerald eyes were now a deep, deep sea green, reflecting the treacherous storms of the open waters. "Where is the mace."

"You'll have to find it." Percy swore he saw the giant smirk. Although that only contorted his face into an even uglier mass. Them he cocked his head to the side and frowned, as if hearing some information that he didn't like. "Hmm. Mistress says that you have deemed yourself worthy, and to give you the weapon." Nico was taken aback. Mistress? How powerful would this 'mistress' have to be for her to make the giant listen with unspoken words? 'Or maybe I just didn't catch the words...' his thoughts trailed off as the giants brushed himself off of the seemingly unending dirt, and pull something out of thin air. The brunette had to blink twice before actually believing what he saw.

The golden mace sparkled into the sunset, but nobody noticed the sudden passing of time, or the sharp intake of breath from the son of Hades. The tallest brunette walked forward and reached out to handle the mystical weapon. He ignored the nagging feeling at the back of his head and in his gut; by the time the son of Hades cried a warning it was too late.

/

FINALLY Sorry for the late update, ppl love u all

The giant's name is Agruis: According to Apollodorus, he was killed by the Moirai, or the Fates, with bronze clubs.

Translations:

Η μητέρα σας μυρίζει σαν χάλια της Ήρας - Your mother smells like Hera's crap (Greek)

Braccas meas vescimini - Eat my pants (Latin)


	15. Rest

The blast affected them all. But most of all, the son of Hades. Now, the only reason why was not because he was nearest to it (oh, then he would've received the least damage and Percy would've gotten hs head blown off), but because his powers were suddenly used, the powers almost stripped away from him.

The light burst from the weapon as soon Percy's flesh hit it, the effect instantaneously blinding them. However, the second after, the world around them was engulfed inside of a pitch black world, a world lacking light. For the moment, it was a safe haven, saving the four from the blinding light. Percy's world exploded from white to black to nothingness and his pupils were burning; 'my eyes are having a field day,' he thought right before he hit the ground.

It wasn't until a second later that the world turned back normal, the evening sun bathing everything into a healthy golden color. Percy groaned and put a hand against the formed-lump on his head; trying to clear away the dizziness, he stood up and looked around for his fellow comrades. "Yo, Percy. What are you doing so early up?" The blonde grinned as he accepted the offered hand. Hazel was not too far off, brushing herself off and she automatically bounded back up to look for her brother. He didn't respond to their calls, and they found him in a ditch.

"Oh, Nico!" The golden-eyed teen hurried to the paler teen's side clutching his hand in hers. It was icy cold, almost inhumanly possible. In his other hand was the golden mace, but due to the circumstances, nobody actually wondered how it got there. "Ambrosia, quick." She ordered. The son of Jupiter obediently handing the medicine to her. She slipped it into Nico's partially opened mouth; when it entered into his system, he groaned, yet didn't regain consciousness. The three let out a sigh of relief they didn't know they were keeping in.

"Here," Percy took the half-Italian into his arms. "I'll carry him. He barely weighs anything." They made their way out of the hills and decided to camp in a nearby forest. Jason offered to switch the burden of the demigod with the supplies (including the mace), but the brunette seemed reluctant to lose physical contact with Nico.

Percy laid the unconscious demigod on a spread out sleeping bag, and watched him rest The sudden rush of powers had surprised them, certainly, bit it also assured that Nico di Angelo was not gone for sure. Jason caught Percy in his peripheral vision; the taller brunette was gazing intently at Nico, with unmistakable passion. The blonde did a double-take. 'Since when,' he shook hs head. There'll be time to solve that later. The three quickly set up a small bonfire with discarded branches, rocks, and Jason's magical power with lightning, warming themselves up. He was getting up to tend the the fire when he felt something grip his hand, weakly. Percy whipped around to face the son of Hades.

"Nico," he spoke softly, his green eyes softening as well, "you okay?" The Romans had gone to collect more firewood, as the moon and stars were approaching fast.

"Don't leave," Nico held tighter.

"I'm not." Something brushed past his ear. And Percy looked up, only to reel back in shock (although he never did let go on his own). There were spirits, ghosts if you will, everywhere and ranging in shades of grey. He was almost, completely dumbfounded. "Nico, w-what?"

"Memories." His explanation was barely heard and the crackling of fire seemed overbearing. "People that go to the Underworld usually forget their lifetimes. Their left memories come back to the surface."

"Then we can find your memories, Nico, all we have to do is find it!" The older brunette's voice raised with excitement.

"I...I don't think that you can do that," Nico's narrowed eyes focused on his green ones, grip loosening. "I think it got washed away int he river. That's probably why the water's... grey.." His hand slipped out of it's hold and dropped back onto the sleeping bag, the son of Hades falling back asleep. As soon as the two lost flesh contact, the spirit's disappeared. At least from Percy's view. He held tend the fire with Jason as Hazel spread out the other sleeping bags parallel to the already sleeping teen's.

As everything was set, they retired for the night.

/

Sorry, guys, this is a really short one. Anyways, thanks for being here. =^u^=

~E.B. out~


	16. Tell

The wind howled into the brunette's ear, and the flashes of red and dust and fear faded away as his eyes opened to the numerous stars above. With a little moan, he sat up, bleary-eyed. The shadow at the edge of the dying fire shifted in surprise, as the son fo Poseidon got up and sat next to him.

"Hey," Percy said.

"Hey," Nico replied. They sat in silence for a while and the green-eyed teen took the chance to study the younger demigod's face; the sparks emitted by the fire was slowly fading into the ominous darkness nearby were reflected in the dark, pondering orbs.

"So, whatcha thinking about?" Percy half grinned, half winced; he really needed to learn how to flirt.

"Just," Nico hesitated a little, something he did more often in place of his individuality. "I just wondered what I would be like with my memories back."

"You'd be you Nico." Their gazes met, dark brown clashing with sea green.

"But, I guess, am I going to remember these times? Will I just en the same? What if I didn't want to remember? Am I going to figure out my true identity?" The son of Poseidon calmly watched Nico's tone lower slowly and steadily as he voiced both of their concerns.

"Well, we'll have to try, don't we?" Percy knew that if he got fixed on something, he would stubbornly stuck 'till the end.

Another moment of silence ensured, And Hazel grunted in her sleep, shifting her position but not waking.

"But I think that Lupe is feeding me fake memories."

Percy put on an incredulous expression, saying something 'smart' like "Huh-What?"

"Do you have nightmare?" The son of Hades suddenly asked. The brunette nodded earnestly, explained that every demigod twists and turns at night. "She's giving me nightmares, and these are clips and fragments of someone's life, I think. Simply incomplete memories."

"But why would Lupe do that?" Percy asked more to himself than to his companion. "What would she gain from it?"

The half-Italian could do nothing but shrug. Precious minutes of sleep slipped through his grasp, but Percy didn't mind, as long as he was with Nico di Angelo. Suddenly, Jason's words words came back to him. 'He's a good kid, don't hurt him.' The green-eyed teen sighed and Nico turned to him in confusion.

"Who's Bianca?"

The son of Poseidon was caught completely by surprise, growing accustomed to the silence only broken by the night breeze and chirping of oblivious crickets. He hesitated almost as much as Nico usually did these days. "Bianca... Was your sister." Brown eyes strayed to Hazel, who was comfortably getting her night of rest. "Your biological sister. Bianca di Angelo."

A pang of guilt hit his chest; yet he was convinced to help the son of Hades regain his memories without any personal issues. He was already disappointed in himself for being ignorant and he could afford to be careless now.

"She was like you," he started again, a bit more confident. "She was two years older than you, and looked a lot like you too, except with freckles and darker skin. Bianca hid her long hair under a green beanie. When we first met, we were with the Hunters."

"Hunters?"

"They're an immortal group of girls that give up love for men. Well, immortal unless killed in battle."

"My sister was killed in battle, right?" Percy nodded against, this time, gently. His eyes held the question, a darker shade than usual; Nico didn't know if it was a trick of the dim light or the night darkness. " I guessed because nobody mentioned it to me when I came after the river at Camp Half-Blood. I also believe that I wouldn't have lost my memories if it weren't for her."

Percy felt like screaming: 'Look, Nico, we're here! You're not alone! The seven and Reyna and even Coach Hedge is your family, and you will always be welcome at Camp Half-Blood, hell it's practically your home! And I'm here for you, why can't you just accept that? Why can't you see that I want to care, to love you?!'

Obviously the son of Poseidon didn't say this, as he knew that the precious Ghost King would not have been able to answer his questions due to his own incompetence.

Nico mirrored his conflicted expression, (a stoic stricken expression with the furrowing of the eyebrows and pursing of the lips,) and they couldn't help but giggle (however embarrassing so) as the sun came up. The three-years senior looked out into the background: the far-off hills looked a little less threatening and the skies were clear, a hopefully good omen.

Percy looked back to the pale teen whose face was serene, completely at peace. However, it seemed to possess a knowing aspect, the light in those eyes containing the wisdom of ages and a melancholy tone. As it was so, it reminded him of Hestia although they were two different people. But it wasn't because of Nico. It wasn't...

And it was gone. The curious, innocent gaze was bad, the true reaction of an amnesiac. That gaze turned on him.

"Should we wake the others up?"

"Oh, yea," Percy started. "Yea." They woke up the golden-haired and golden-eyed demigods with the sun, then washing away, a quick breakfast of granola bars and stale water.

As they restarted their journey to return Lupe's mace and the now inevitable Underworld, the son of Poseidon wondered who the being was, and whether Nico was starting to believe Lupe's fake memories.


	17. Extra: Dream

FYI: This is a mini-chapter thing, where it describes Nico's nightmares, and why he couldn't fall asleep. Set right before the campfire, Percico bonding moment (I seem to have a lot of bonding moments...)

=^u^= Thanks for reading and putting up with my crap.

~E. B. Out~

/

Lupe's face appeared, her grin mocking and teasing. "Choose a card, any card."

A deck of cards situated on a high wooden table also suddenly appeared, a single candlelight brightening the darkness around them. Nico stepped into the circle of light. Lupe's withered hand motioned to the table. They were normal, playing cards, twelve faced down in rows of four. The son of Hades tentatively reached for a card, the Olympian faces peering up at him in all their godliness. He sighed; nobody in their right mind would want to do this, but for him it was an impending moment.

His hand hovered slightly over the god of fire and blacksmiths, before a thin, pale, shaking finger flipped it over. There was a picture of flower, with the word ""Άχρηστος""* written across the top in bold, silver lettering. An excellent choice," Lupe's voice hissed next to his ear. The son of Hades gulped, his Adam's apple bobbed. "One of my favorites." The hag disappeared this time was black dust, and Nico wondered what she actually was.

Before he knew it, he was stationed at an arcade. There were people of all ages, all absorbed into their game, occasionally munching on locus-shaped treat that closely resembled the flower he saw on the card. He walked up to the closest person, a teenager with glasses and shortly-cropped red hair.

"Um, excuse me," Nico tried. "Where am I?" No reply. The son of Hades tried to speak with several of the multiple gamers but nothing, yet he was determined to win this small battle against Lupe. He even tried talking t the waitress that continued serving the lotus flowers, but even she too only shook her head at him.

Then Nico spotted Percy. A younger version: much shorter with longer hair and curious green eyes. He was talking to small, pale boy about spotting a blonde girl and red-headed guy. The pale boy seemed familiar, and Nico wondered why Lupe was showing him this memor-

Someone screamed.

The ebony-haired teen didn't have time to process'Bianca' properly before he ran off in that direction. He got to a hall and saw an abandoned green cap at the end of the hall, all other thoughts excluded from his mind; however, no matter how fast he ran, the cap only became a distant object int he background... Clips of pictures and bits of images flashed behind his closed eyes with a multitude of voices speaking out to him, some even his own.

"You don't belong..."

"You promised!"

"Απόβλητος."

"...Sorry..."

"Mi soldatino, Nico."

"...blood or sewage..."

"Oh, I scare you very much."

"...accepted!" He envisioned the smiling, care-free and green-eyed teen and a feeling of desolation entered him, loneliness, separation, love, pain. The rushing colors stopped and he stood in front of a deep crack in the ground crawling with live skeletons. Percy's changed expression, now devastated yet promising. Earth rumbling, the crack swallowing Percy whole, as his hand slipped form the edge. Suddenly, Nico was in hell, flames flickering, monsters everywhere, surrounding him, the land seemed alive with an intent of malice and harm and death...He closed his eyes and fell into the darkness... The open, wide darkness... The comforting, numb darkness... This, his end...

The boy's lips mouthed a desperate mantra. "No, no, no-" His dark eyes flew opened and he scrambled in his sleeping bag, trying to wrestle off the invisible chains holding him down. Nico laid still in the night for a moment, cool night air filling his lungs and relaxing his aching muscles.

With a sigh, he shuffled up and out of his covers, stand up only to sit back down in front of the fire. The four had decided that there was no current danger and they all needed the rest; there was no watch that night. Well, there is no negative consequence of keeping watch, Nico thought to himself. Almost unconsciously, his dark orbs retaliated to the peacefully sleeping son of Poseidon, who was drooling as if he didn't have a care in the world. A smile adorned the half-Italian's features, as he realized that no more sleep was coming to him that night.

An owl hooted in the distance and crickets chirped, leaving Nico pondering, neither for the first nor last time, whether the quest for his memories were worthwhile.

/

Translations:

*"Άχρηστος" = "worthless"

**"Απόβλητος" = "outcast"


	18. Confused

The daughter of love woke up with a start. Her nightmares consisted of golden eyes and spears, bronze and golden daggers that had no use since, who could fight their beloved? A foreign voice came from the corner of the room- corner? Piper wasn't sure how she knew. "Looks like you finished your beauty sleep. Although you look like you could need more of it.

No, she thought, it wasn't a foreign voice; it's just too cold now to recognize as Annabeth. The blonde walked over to the daughter of Aphrodite, and held out her dagger. She lightly traced mindless patterns on the pale skin. "Such a beauty, skin like snow, hair equivalent to rose petals and those lips," Piper tried to snarl when her chin was lifted to face her predator, but found it hard when the not-Annabeth smiled at her, almost genuine. "Lips the color of sweet blood. Like your friends."

At that word, the daughter of Aphrodite instantly tensed, ready for battle and her figures morphed into one more fitting of a child of Ares. Her voice was as cold as stone with a drop of charm-speak.

"What did you do to them? Where are they?"

"The four children of the 'big three'?" The taller teen's laugh echoed off the cavern walls. Wait, the brunette paused to think for a bit, cave? The daughter of Aphrodite analyzed her current situation. Kidnapped. By not-Annabeth. More accurately, a possessed Annabeth who seemed immune to her charm-speaking. "Mistress is taking very good care of them. You needn't worry. Tch. It's a shame such a beauty is left to die." In a cave with someone anonymous called 'Mistress' apparently ordering not-Annabeth around, who also has the hots for her.

Remember, keep talking. Number one rule: get as much information as you can. 'Pretend that you're confused (Piper didn't need to pretend) and also act like you've never been under a stressful and complex situation before', she told herself. Her father being an actor was a plus.

"W-where are they? Where am ? What are... Are you going to do with m-?" The blade came out of nowhere and elicited a gasp from the petite brunette. Okay, so she didn't need to act accordingly. The mindless patterns started to trace further, to places that justified the blonde's claim. For a second, Piper wanted to forget the world and just cuddle with her girlfriend- until she realized that not-Annabeth was going to kill her when she stopped having fun. More information, she reminded herself, more information. The more information, the better. "So you're going to kill me?"

"Ah, unfortunately, no," the blonde pursed her lips and grinned evilly. A cold shiver ran down Piper's spine and she wondered what thing had possessed Annabeth. "Imagine what I could do with you, with those plump lips." The bronze blade sharply turned and made a slightly nicked her bottom lip, making some blood dribble on her chin. But what really turned her stomach and made her blood boil was the fact the the blonde licked it off, and got off on it. It revolted her. Annabeth would never do something like this. Annabeth would... She would find a successful way to un-possess her girlfriend, or find out who this 'Mistress' was. Maybe even destroy her.

And that is what Piper planned to do. After a little tempting, of course.

/

Sorry for the late update, guys! O.o I didn't know how the story would go on, but decided to make it a Piper-based chap. Anyways, thnks for putting up with me and my crappy plot line (What plot line?)... =^u^= E.B. out


	19. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the lack of romance there has been involved in the last couple of chaps....

A quick breakfast, and the quartet was off. Neither greek mentioned the night before, or the fact that they had slept much better after encountering the other. Now, on their way back to Los Angeles, their calculations (mainly Hazel's) had proven that it had been a week and a half on this quest. On their way back to the DOA Studio, Percy stole multiple glances at the son of Hades. It was a rough night for both, definitely, but what effect were the fact memories creating? If they were fake at all?

They were stopping for lunch at an old gas station with a creaking, wooden bench with granola bars when Chiron's message came. The IM startled them as there had been no communication from Camp Half-Blood for such a long time.

"Chiron," the blonde frowned at the centaur's distraught expression. "Is everything alright?"

"Is anybody missing? Where are you?" Percy opened his mouth to reply, his face equally expressing confusion with the rest of the demigods.

"No, why?" Jason answered and asked.

"Piper and Annabeth are missing. They've disappeared either this morning or yesterday night. Nobody's seen a trace of them, even in their cabins or woods. Gone, just... Not there anymore." As a father figure to the daughter of Athena, Percy could only guess how worried Chiron was.

"Don't worry. They're probably taking care of some minor business. If Annabeth and Piper are together, then monsters don't stand a chance. And i doubt that some other gods will meddle for such a short time after two wars." The son of Poseidon grinned for the both of them but the gesture was not returned.

"But isn't the camp barrier protective? How could monsters get in, AND kidnap two of the cabin leaders without commotion?" Hazel inquired. "And what business did they have outside of camp? If they were going to Camp Jupiter, then they would've have contacted someone."

"Reyna doesn't know anything. I've asked anyone who might've known. Just gone."

"Then how?" The silence left only two options: the two female teens were lured out of camp through means of blackmail, or one took the other. Neither seemed very likely.

"Anyways," Chiron sighed, age showing, "all four of you be careful. A quest is usually made for three, and we don't need any more things on our hands. If anything happens contact the camp." Jason nodded and ran a hand through the mist, effectively ending the call. The silence continued on their journey back to the studio, and until they met Lupe.

"Young demigods, back from their perilous journey, I see." Her cackle would mentally disturb children, the green-eyed teen thought.

"So I have the mace that you have asked for. Now will you let us pass to the Underworld?" Percy, in all his life, never believed that he had been this tired of Greek gods and goddesses before. And that was saying a lot.

"Yes, the mace. Just as I have remembered it." A withered hand reached out towards the demigod, and eyes widened at with glee. When the goddess made contact, all of them flinched at the maybe-sudden rush of light that they had experienced before; Nico was also not in shape of exerting such huge energy levels time after time.

However, what did happen was the lack of gravity, or the sudden increase of it. Actually, the ground underneath their very feet split apart cleanly, and the fall came. Several 'oof's echoed out in the plain and was lost in the dead silence (pun intended).

"Most people say they're grateful," Jason rubbed his head where a bump was beginning to form, "rather than throw them down into a pit."

"Well, at least we made it into the Underworld," the daughter of Pluto smiled empathetically.

"But she never took the mace." Percy and Nico stared at the weapon in the half-Italian's hand. The golden coating gleamed with a luster that seemed to give each and every one of them renewed hope.

"She is the weirdest goddess that I have ever met in my life." Percy complained, getting up and uncapping Riptide. He was glad to have the familiar weight in his hands.

"Lupe is a spirit, one who causes devastation to all she meets. Nobody in history can escape her. A goddess would've chosen a lifetime of grand entrances but Lupe, she sneaks up behind you and strikes your heel with her fangs. It won't be long before the venom spreads throughout your body." The small son of Hades's voice caused the others to look at him with strange expressions. It sounded as if the older Nico was back, instead of the curious, unspoiled one.

"Do you remember?" Hazel choked on her words at the rush of things. "Nico?" Chocolate brown eyes reflected her own orbs and shone with the knowledge of the centuries, the experience of the universe. Then Nico was back. Or the current memory-less Nico.

"Huh?" He cocked his head to the side and raising a thing eyebrow. "L-Lupe is a spirit?" He seemed as surprised to hear himself talk, almost like his mouth was moving on his own.

"Right." Percy knew that this conversation was for another time, for they had more important things on their mind. "So where do we go from here?"

But before anybody had the time to even glance at the daughter of Pluto, the earth shook and the band of demigods cowered towards the ground, expecting a secondary fall. That's when Cerberus came charging towards them.


	20. Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Thanks for staying until now... I should be updating weekly but my schedule (believe it or not) is pretty busy over summer break. Geez, give a girl some time to rest and write. But no~. Yea... I might not be back for a long time, I really can't tell. So just a heads up.
> 
> Anyways, a god-demigod-encounter in this chap, but not as depressing as it should be. Enjoy~ =^u^=

Percy didn't know what he was doing until he found himself with a mouthful of dirt and multiple scratches on his arms and legs. Apparently, instinct took over and he protectively ran towards Cerberus, in front of the frozen son of Hades; one of the three heads simple headbutted him aside like a rag doll and bounded off, still charging towards Nico. Hazel rushed over to the green-eyed teen without a second thought and made sure that he was okay, while was trying to get back to his feet after a tragic, yet totally unexpected fall. He too ended up with a mouthful of dirt. Needless to say, it didn't taste like chocolate.

While they were trying to coordinate themselves and unfreeze Nico with shouts, the huge, three-headed dog of hell went up and licked his face. Yup, totally; like an obedient pet seeing it's owner in a long while. With no hesitation, the demigod started petting it. "Good boy." Percy's lips pressed together even more.

"If you told us that it was your dog, we wouldn't have tried to attack it. If we didn't attack it, then maybe we wouldn't have gotten a face full of dirt."

Jason rolled his eyes at the other ex-praetor's dry expression. "It's fine. We didn't get eaten. We didn't die or seriously hurt." The daughter of Pluto giggled as the enormous apparently domestic animal gave her half-brother a huge lick in the face/neck/chest/head/hair. She giggled again at the demigod's expression. "He's actually kinda cute."

"If you can see a big, three-headed dog of the Underworld like that," the green-eyed teen bowed his head slightly in her direction. "Then you deserve my respect."

The three heads consecutively stared at him with curiosity and a devious glint. At least Percy thought so. Suddenly, it bounded off towards him and licked him a bit more vigorously than it had to Nico. Now hazel wasn't the only one laughing. "Agh," he shook his dark hair. "That's disgusting. I'm going to smell like dog for the rest of the month or something. This is just... Does this even wash out?"

Then, one moment the black beast was wagging his tail,the next body tensed in a battle position with teeth bared. "Whoa boy. I'm not here for you or your master." The unfamiliar voice made them whip their heads around, just as much as the beast had. Well, unfamiliar to all but one.

"Cupid..." the mood ultimately fouled with no specific reason as the son of Jupiter growled almost comically. The grudge that he bared against the god did nothing to help him.

"Ah, the blonde son of Jupiter. Lovely last encounter, am I right?" Cupid bared his perfectly white teeth as the addressed demigod's scowl deepened; Percy didn't see how they were acquainted but an enemy of a friend was an enemy.

Percy spoke up next. Jason was doing absolutely nothing. "What do you want?"

"Ah, the infamous son of Poseidon. Fancy a little talk?"

"What do you want?" Perseus Jackson, for all the years of his existence, was really tired of being asked something by the gods. Seriously, you guys are gods, why don't you just order it. At least if you're going to askfor something do it out of the good of your heart. Okay, that was a little far, but not all immortal beings were complete assholes.

"Just a little talk." He slid his gaze to the shortest male demigod. "And maybe your precious little Nico here." The blonde instinctively stepped between the god and the half-Italian. He opened his mouth to retort something but Nico only looked curiously at him.

"Do I need to do something for you?" the ebony-haired teen walked closer to him and ignored everybody else's protests. He continued until he was only a foot's length away from the taller god. The red eyes peered at him, accompanied by a coy grin.

"Nothing I cannot handle myself. Besides, I am not my counter-part, Cupid. I am Eros, supposing you know what my domain is." The winged god carefully lifted Nico's chin with a finger as he corrected the others. Percy felt a stone drop into his stomach, and his insides coil into an unfamiliar twinge of jealousy and possessiveness. "Hmm. You don't look half bad without your usual cowl. Much improvement."

"Let. Him. Go." Each word was accented with a frown and a angry thrust of his sword. It was a little too close for anyone's comfort but Cupid- Eros, Percy corrected himself this time- only grinned further.

"Don't worry. He's not mine to play with. Unfortunately." Hazel blushed and Jason bit his lip from making an stupid remark. Eros, however idiotic himself, was also a god. The blonde also felt as if he were trespassing on a very private moment. Nico saw the red-eyed being dipped his head a little lower, the space between the two closing further, until even Hazel couldn't take it anymore.

Instead, Nico felt something heavy drop onto his neck. His hand flew to his chest, where a flower hung on a heavy golden chain. The flower seemed fresh and surreal; an even heavier scent hung in the air, but it wasn't altogether unpleasant. The god of homogeneous love reared back as fast as he had leaned in and tossed a care-free grin towards the son of Poseidon. "Take care of the kid. He's not all doom and gloom, after all."

His wings spread and he disappeared, leaving only a velvet red rose behind. Nico cautiously picked up the rose, staring at it momentarily before shrugging at the others. The golden-eyed demigod looked at it and wondered 'why isn't it withering?'. The son of Jupiter sighed and wondered why life was so hard. The brunette was left stunned and swore to hurt Cupid or his counterpart Eros whenever they met again. The small, lost boy without anything but his fellow comrades looked out into the unending field, gently cradling the rose in his hands.


	21. Fear

The daughter of Aphrodite’s plan was a successful mission. More or less.  
　　　　 

“So , what’s your piece? Your part of the deal?”  


“Rule, power, ultimate victory. Wouldn’t that be the normal response?” Golden orbs stared at multicolored ones, albeit a little sarcastically. Piper felt an unnatural feeling of pit, but no reason why. It soon turned into frustration.  


“But that’s not your response, is it?”  


“Is it?” The golden eyes still, this time, peered curiously at her. The brunette shot a reply back.  


“Well, you’re hardly normal, are you?” Her question made not-Annabeth laugh, the tone hitting closer to home. Piper smiled naturally and her formerly tense body set at ease. As the time went on, it felt as if her captor was more of Annabeth than not. Of course, the future was never to be told.  


“No,” the softer tone came, surprising Piper. “But there is a reason why.”  


“Why?”  


“I’m the last of my kind, demigod. You might not understand that but I’m dying out. It doesn’t help that my powers are dying as well.”  


“Wait, what do you mean your power’s dying?” Hope entered her mind and current situation; the vital information had come. IF there was a way to dispel the spirit (or whatever not-Annabeth was) from her girlfriend, then it would be a great deal easier.  


“Probing a bit, are we?” The cold, unyielding voice indicated that no more information were to be passed on.  


“Please,” Piper begged, “just a couple more questions.You don’t even have to answer if you don’t want to.”  


“A couple more.” At this, the brunette tried to loosen the bonds over her wrists and stretched her legs out to re-start the circulation in the lower half of her body; sitting down for a long time couldn’t be good for your body. Especially if you have ADD. Not-Annabeth simply looked at her; she took a deep breath before beginning:  


“What are you?”  


Piper could almost hear the smirk in her voice as well as see it on the blonde’s features. “Annabeth Chase, your girlfriend.”  


"Who are you, really?”  


“Spirit. Although I take the form of a lot of things.”  


“Hmm. How’d you get into camp?”  


“Thank Mistress ad your girlfriend for that. She kindle granted me permission to enter.” Piper kept her shock back and mild annoyance to herself, her face devoid of any emotion.  


“Who’s Mistress?”  


“Your actual captor,” came the careful answer, “but Mistress is also Mistress. Nothing in existence can question her being.”  


“A god?” but the reply she was received was stubborn, even more so than her questions.  


“Mistress is Mistress.” Piper sighed before admitting that she would get no further if continuously asking for the mysterious ‘Mistress’.  


“One final question. Why are you working for Mistress?”  


“Because she will be glorious in the end.” The captive opened her mouth to hopefully persuade not-Annabeth but was cut off. “And.. Because I’d die without her. My original power is fading away. In exchange for life, I obey and wish her commands. Shall I have no other power source...” Not-Annabeth’s hesitant reply trailed off and the sense of pity came again. Cue transformation to frustration. “Well, Mistress is calling. See you in a bit.”  


The blonde stroked the daughter of Aphrodite’s soft cheek before leaving. Piper waited until the echoing footsteps disappeared and inspected the room: a cabin with a barred window, decaying wooden support beams, a a mist filling the air. The small rainbow created in her specific angle- a rainbow. That’s it.  


Twisting her body around with a renewed vigor and into a distorted kind of tango, the daughter of Aphrodite successfully fished a drachma out of her jeans’ pocket. She flicked the precious metal into the small, scientific miracle and called out the second most person she trusted (well, first in these circumstances). “Jason Grace, son of Jupiter.”  


A ragged-looking blonde came up on the unexplainable screen and shock reflected on his expression, as well as his voice.  


“Piper! How did you... Where are you? Where’s Annabeth? Why’d you two leave camp? Chiron’s going crazy trying to find you two! Even we couldn’t reach you!” The other three demigods crowded the limited vision as soon as they heard Jason’s distressed torment of words. Behind their tired faces was a barren and desolate land.  


Before Piper could stop herself: “Where are you?”  


“Oh. The Underworld,” her ex-boyfriend replied with a simple shrug like that didn’t matter. “That’s not important. Where are you and A-”  


“Okay.” Piper took another deep breath. “Annabeth’s possessed and immune to charmspeak. She works for some weird ‘Mistress’ and I don’t know where I am. I was kidnapped out of camp. Actually, maybe a high, elevated place? Can you trace IM’s? Anyways, the spirit possessing Annabeth actually is losing it’s power so I might be able to break out, just contact camp for me because I don’t have any other drachmas and she just left but I don’t know when she’s coming back, oh my gods this is actually really, really complicated.”  


“Piper, Piper,” Jason calmed her down. “Breathe.”  


“It’s okay. Are you and Annabeth okay? No injuries? We could call camp,” Percy said. “Everyone’s going crazy right now. Seriously.”  


“Tha- Shit! She’s coming back!”  


“Wa-” The daughter of Aphrodite didn’t wait for anybody else to speak and sliced through the IM with her wrists, efficiently cutting off their communication. Her pounding heart didn’t cease to slow down when the blonde came in, wielding her familiar bronze dagger. A chill ran down her spine and Piper couldn’t help but dread...well, something. Not-Annabeth opened the door again, and the brunette could see some sort of empty hallway, just before it turned the corner. She looked back up to not-Annabeth, who stood in the doorway with a blank expression.  


“Mistress wants to see you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, but it'l prop be a while until i upload the next chap cause school is starting and crap... so yea... that's it


	22. Rage

　　Jason was positively infuriating. Well, and infuriated, but mostly the former. 

　　“Wait, her hands were bound.” A pondering expression crossed his features, until they darkened with rage and a call for justice. “Where is she? Can spirits even enter the cap protection-boundary thing? Why Annabe-”

　　“Jason, why don’t you calm the hell down, and contact the camp to let them know? We do have an extra drachma in case of an emergency.” Percy carefully approached him. “You know what, while you do that, blow off some steam as well.”

　　“Yea. Contact the camp. Good idea. That’s actually a really good idea.” The blonde, however, paused again. “But what if more people are possessed? Annabeth’s pretty strong and if one spirit got in, then others can probably get in.”

　　“But you need permission to enter the boundaries,” the son of Poseidon argued back. He handed Jason the coin. 

　　“So is it like, broken?” Nico frowned. Something broken right now and more people going missing seems to be a bad situation in a bad circumstance. 

　　“What I’m more worried about is Mistress. Do you think Gaea is back? She shouldn’t be, right? Another god? Goddess?” Hazel bit her quivering lower lip; she couldn’t afford to show weakness, not now. 

　　“But we sealed Gaea back into her little hell hole with all of her minions. Why should she come back? There’s nothing to gain, especially since she’s been defeated once.”

　　“Maybe revenge?” Nico shrugged. 

　　“But why?” Hazel countered her brother. 

　　“She would be shamed that she and the giants was defeated by only seven demigods and some help from the gods, who the giants were suppose to defeat.” Jason's hand still held the coin until Percy stook it back from him, frustrated at the useless arguing. With a clear voice:

　　“Camp Half-Blood, Chiron!” 

　　The familiar centaur’s face showed up on the screen they had taken advantage of so many times. When the blonde demigod saw Chiron, the words tumbled out of his mouth with reckless abandon. 

　　“We just got a IM from Piper; she’s been kidnapped by a possessed Annabeth who works for Mistress and we just met Cupid or Eros, whatever version he was in, and gave Nico like a flower after... Anyways, we are going to try and meet Hades, but we don’t know how long it might take us and we even need to go and rescue Piper.”

　　“Dear gods.” He paled incredibly and, surprisingly, caught all of the information that was thrown at him. “We probably have to track them down first. Do you know where she was?”

　　“No.” Hazel interjected, glaring at Jason to calm down. He couldn’t do anything but obey, because what could you do when a daughter of Pluto was angry at you? “Although she said something about being in an elevated place, probably because the mist was in her room. Maybe on a mountain? And Annabeth’s been possessed, so maybe the Hecate can locate the spirit’s energy levels?”

　　“That’s a marvelous idea. Now, just be careful, all four of you. I know how much demigods of the big three can attract trouble, so don’t go looking for it.”

　　“Uh,” the half-Italian held up the ornament around his neck. “What about this?”

　　Chiron sighed. “You should not dispose of it, especially since a god has given it to you. Whether or not it will be useful, we do not know. Only time will tell,” and with a wave of his hand, he was gone. The four looked at each other, their glances asking what the future would hold. 

　　“Well,” Percy shrugged while the others gave him their attention, “we should go, you know. Walk.” Hazel led them further into the land of the dead.


	23. Court

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's going to be some lemon-y zest in this chap, although not the main part... just a little warning.... BEWARE. ok, enjoy =^u^=

The quartet traveled through extreme measures and wastelands. Well, they were pretty sure that the Underworld counted as ‘extreme measures and wastelands’. And they were as tired as hell. Their clothes were torn, dirt and dust clung to every crease; they showed expressions of weariness and were clearly sick of the unchanging, mundane travel day by day, night by night.

“How further until the land changes?” The others had pointed ignored the son of Poseidon, and it hurt his feelings (no, not really but he was known for being either overdramatic, sarcastic, or sassy). His questions, unfortunately, struck true. “Are we there yet?”

“Would we still be walking if we were?” Jason raised an eyebrow and Nico covered his snickering with a cough. Hazel smiled silently and went on walking. 

“You guys are ganging up on me...” Percy murmured under his breath. “But seriously, I wouldn’t care if we came across a garden at this rate, hell a flower would do. This is so depressing for people our age.”

The half-Italian fingered the necklace as they went, the artificial flower uncommonly light for its size and components. Well, if Nico did learn one thing through the journey was that the Greek and Roman mythology didn’t run by normal human standards. Not that he had any to start with after The River Incident’. Suddenly, “What do you guys think that this is for?”

“Um, a secret weapon?” Percy shrugged, for the nth time that day. 

“A communication device?” Jason offered up. 

“A courting method.” The blue-eyed demigod stopped in his tracks while the other two male teens gave her a confused look. 

“No. I won’t allow it.” Jason stubbornly said; Hazel giggled stopped walking too, whispering something along the lines of ‘overprotective’. “Am not...”

“A counting method?” Percy gave her an intense look. “I will not ever take math ever again.”

“Not counting,” she corrected. “A courting method. As in flirting. Like a suitor courts you.” Percy stopped dead in his tracks and his emerald-green eyes seemed almost murderous. Well, now the situation was much worse than simple math. 

“I will skewer him with his own bow if he tries to do something like that. And break all of his arrow. And poison him.” Hazel giggled again, and even Jason chuckled a bit. The true intentions and meaning behind that statement was almost crystal-clear to them. Nico also ceased to progress over the lands, following the lead of the other three demigods. 

“I’m still confused. Why would he ‘court’ me? And what’s flirting? It sounds like fighting.”

“Nico, it’s like,” Hazel seemed to be at a dilemma. Jason took over for her, because Percy was still fuming over the idea of Eros courting Nico. “You see, he might like you, and you court someone if you want to, uh, date them. Like in a relationship.” The son of Hades’s lips formed a little ‘o’ finally understanding what the others have hinted at. His fingers absentmindedly fingered the rose and chain; he jumped when he felt something soft touch his ankle. 

When he looked down, he saw a pink flower with a yellow center, the stereotype of almost all simple flowers. It seemed to radiate a faint glow because of their dull surroundings. All around him, other flowers seemed to pop up out of the ground, like a video of a growing garden fast-forwarded. The group was too amazed to say anything. 

“Is that what the rose does?” Golden eyes looked towards the necklace around her brother’s neck, but it was still there. The glow spread even more, and they were bathed in a comfortable light. Percy stepped closer to the son of Hades, instinct forcing him to protect the lost demigod from all suspicious and/or unnatural events. All at once, a heavy fragrance rose up into the air, and it only took the Roman demigods a couple of inhaled breaths until they were left unconscious on the floor of the meadow. Nico felt light-headed and his heartbeat soared into the sky, like never before. His body felt too hot, and his skin oversensitive to the slightest touches.

Something- or someone- heavy came down on him from behind and a drunken voice spoke uncomfortably close to his ear. 

“Hey,” the whisper sent chills straight down his back. “Nico.”

“P-Percy.” His vice came out more of whimper than no, and his legs felt like jelly. “W-what are you doing?” Instead, the son of Poseidon went on as if he couldn’t hear him. Percy’s arms wrapped around him, enveloping his small frame with his own. 

“Have I ever told you?”

“T-told me w-what?” Nico was suddenly on the floor, his eyes staring into green ones. They looked like a predator getting ready to pounce on their prey. He closed his eyes as their breaths mingled, and felt his lips crash into slightly chapped ones; the salty taste should not have been as arousing as it was. An involuntary moan escaped the son of Hades, who blushed a deep red and the demigod on top of him separated for breath. They were both in sheer need of it, yet in desire of another kiss.  
“You look so cute, Nico.” The low, husky voice made the half-Italian’s pulse to beat harder, faster. Something wet caressed his neck and he wasn’t entirely ashamed of the embarrassing noises that slipped past his lips. The son of Poseidon moved further down until he reached his chest. 

The lust from the green eyes faded, leaving only a look of guilt, and he fought to go on. He looked downwards, at the heaving chest, when the ornament caught his eyes. Suddenly, he brought it to his nose and sniffed; the scent was different, and it seemed to be drowning out the real flowers’ scent around them. Understanding lit his eyes but when he looked up towards Nico to explain it to him, all sense of logic escaped him. 

Bruised lips, burning cheeks, tousled hair and a completely debauched expression. “P-Percy...” His clothes felt a little too tight and uncomfortable for the moment. It took a while for Percy’s brain to re-function. He could either a) be the good guy and solve the problem or b) continue going on like the love-sick boy he is. Well, being a major part of two prophesies, it was kind of ingrained into him to be the ‘good guy’. He couldn’t afford to be selfish, not now, no matter how much he wanted to.  
Wordlessly, he brought up the flower and the formerly hooded eyes cleared to come to understanding. With a embarrassed look the two, unable to separate further for they needed the ornament to survive, walked over the the two unconscious Romans and lifted the fake rose to their noses. A minutes later, the four of them were hurrying to distance themselves from the ‘enchanted garden’, and neither Hazel nor Jason could exactly explain afterwards why the two Greeks were blushing so profoundly. Especially when talk of the garden and rose came up. 

When the four of them agreed that they had too much space between them and the flower garden for the scent to reach them. While they had stopped to contemplate their exact location from the Underworld palace, Cupid/Eros found them once again. 

“Successfully made it through the Meadow of Lust. I applaud you all.” The minor god clapped his hands together, grinning mischievously. “So the rose did help, after all.”  
“Y-you knew what was going to happen? Why didn’t you just tell us and tell us to avoid that place?” Percy offended and angry scoff made the god of desire and sexual attraction cock his head to the side. 

“The Garden cannot be avoided. It follows its hosts and feeds off of their energy, otherwise, their true feelings. The flowers’ scent is much more stronger when there is real love required, but I myself am not an expert in the area.” Instantly, eyes turned to the son of Poseidon, who put his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Don’t look at me,” he cried.

“Where are we, anyways?” Jason felt sick and didn’t forgive the god (he never would, for the entirety of his life) but they needed the information. He wanted to get a move on things because the blonde was feeling light-headed and stressed out. His vision was becoming blurry as well; if he were going to faint, he wanted to do it in a sheltered location, not in the middle of nowhere. “Where are we, and why don’t we encounter any, I don’t know like, ghosts?”

“Spirits,” the two children of the Underworld automatically corrected him. 

“You are on the outskirts of the fields of Asphodel. People here mainly tend to be as close to the inside rather than outside. The spirits are usually i the far southwest side, for fear of newcomers and Tartarus. They’ve been wary ever since Gaea tried to rise to power, and monsters were unleashed. But for the outskirts to be deserted isn't a real surprise.”

“Also,” Nico put his hand tentatively behind his head, “you wouldn’t happen to know where the palace is, would you?”

“Keep going north and when you see the road, turn east. Keep following it and you can’t miss it. It radiates ‘Hades’. Oh, and when you get to the fork, go to the left one.The right one leads to Tartarus.” The god gave them a sidelong glance after pointing out directions to them. “I don’t think that any one of you would want to go in there. Again.” 

“Okay, one more question,” Hazel interrupted before they were on their way again. “Why do you need a Garden of Lust?”

A glint of humor appeared in Cupid’s eyes. The blood-red pupils narrowed and his plump lips curved into a thin smile. “Well, those in Asphodel sometimes want to, how do you mortals say it now a days? ‘Hook it up’? ‘Bang’? And of course, you can also find your one and truly in the Underworld.” The winged god seemed a little bored talking about the last part, inspecting his fingernails. “It was also a collaboration work between Persephone and Aphrodite, for fun of course. And certain ‘relationships’ above on the surface. But now, it proved to be a little to strong for mortals.” Once more, all eyes strayed to Percy and he merely scrunched up his nose. (“Why is it always me?” he would question later on.)

“So,” the god raised his hand in a mock salute and spread his wings. “Adieu*.” He disappeared but didn’t leave anything this time, maybe hinting at the two older male demigods and their anger. With a sigh, Hazel led the others to where Cupid had directed them to, and soon enough, they found the path that led onto the palace of Hades.  
Half an hour later, they quartet had stopped singing ‘99 Bottles of Beer’ at the 7th bottle and stood in front of the massive, black doors of the palace. Percy, at the rear of the party, gulped, suddenly feeling inferior to the size of the place although he had already been here before. “So, you want to finish the song before going on?” 

Jason only rolled his eyes before hesitantly stepping up to knock on the door. The Stygian Iron rang out and Nico took a vague interest, and before he could help himself, instinctively stepped behind, besides to son of Poseidon and took his hand. Instead of pulling away, however, the taller teen only held on tighter. The creaking of the doors made the four cringe and jump away startled. There was no indication that anything opened the doors for them. 

Subconsciously holding in their breath, the traveling quartet finally stepped into their destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *"Goodbye" in French


	24. Enter

　　The trip down the abnormally large and insanely tall hallway left the four demigods anticipating something big to happen, something to just blow up in their unsuspecting faces. Finding Persephone chattering to herself in a bright room and surrounded by a variety of plants was kind of (UNDERSTATEMENT!!!) an anti-climax.   
　　“No, this one didn’t work, would this one? But they’re practically the same thing... The different potion mixes might create a drink, and some ambrosia, but-” her eyes fixed on the small crowd halfway-in and halfway-out of her floral room. “You four. Out. In the Courtroom. Now.”  
　　Unable to say their greetings and/or ask their questions, the four were milled and seated on one of the stone benches that seemed to emit the full power of the Underworld. A crude depiction of Rhadamnthys, Minos and Aiakos condemning a person, - spirit, I should say- and leading him off towards a downwards ‘hell’ seemed cruelly accurate.   
　　“This place is... Unique.” Hazel stretched out the last two syllables, not knowing what to say for the place. Persephone quickly hushed her and put her hands on her hips. Her lips were set into a determined yet grave line, and she seemed to have aged many, many years. It only reminded Percy of when he met his father for the first time in the Underwater World, and he pitied the gods. Not in the ‘oh, I’m better than so you I get to pity you’ kind of pity, but the ‘you don’t get to experience life because you are immortal, you experience experience itself’ kind of pity (which are two very separate things, let me tell you).   
　　“What does Olympus want from Hades this time?”  
　　“What?” Jason quickly amended her suspicion. “We aren’t here from the other gods. But we really need to meet with Hades. It’s urgent.”  
　　“He can’t. He’s extremely busy at the moment.”  
　　“But we need to!” Hazel couldn’t stop the tears from forming in her eyes, and Percy eagerly nodded with her. Although the eagerness was grim. What if Hades didn’t want to help? What if he didn’t care? What would happen to Nico? Would they ever figure out what had happened to Nico?   
　　“He’s not fit to see anyone right now,” Persephone sighed. Her hands dropped from her hips, and she strung them together, clearly distressed. Jason could only barely stop himself from asking what had happened. Percy didn’t try and stop himself. Persephone’s eyes widened in fear and looked at them with wide, doe-like eyes; the son of Hades thought that they resembled Nico’s a bit when they first found him after the war. Lost, intimidated, nervous, unable to do anything.   
　　“Why don’t you just show us? We might be able to help,” Hazel inquired. The goddess spared a long glance for everyone, and she froze when Nico gave her a curious look.   
　　“Aren’t you... Why are you here? How?”  
　　“I, uh,” a utterly befuddled Nico stuttered for words, “walked?”  
　　“Persephone please. We need to see Hades. The reason why we came here is, well, because Nico lost his memories. We think the Lethe but we can’t be sure. And, Nico said something about being with Hades so...”  
　　“Oh, dear... That’s what he was talking about.” As quickly as she sat them down, she ushered them down into the hall. “Hades said that Nico here wouldn’t be here with us anymore. I thought that he was... Passed, in mortal senses.”  
　　“Oh.” Percy sure was glad that wasn’t true.   
　　“But I’m not sure that he can help you.”  
　　Jason stepped up, taking the lead of the quartet. “Why’s that?” Persephone sighed and led them across another hallway, with yet just another hallway just around the corner. Percy lingered behind, and found the half-Italian’s hand. He could feel the fluttering heartbeat enclosed in his warm grip, like a frightened rabbit’s. “Don’t worry, it’s not going to be that bad. I think. I just have this intuition that this meeting’s not going to be as bad as the one’s I’ve had in the past. Trust my gut.” His whisper made the shorter demigod give him a small, reserved smile, but it was there nevertheless. Now Percy could feel his heartbeat speeding up. Well, wasn’t this just grand?  
　　“I don’t think that I can trust your stomach, Percy.” Nico whispered back into his ear, and the son of Poseidon practically beamed. The daughter of the Underworld turned to say something, but when she saw their exchange, she could help but giggle and roll her eyes. She in turn, stood next to Jason and told him something that seemed to fit. “You know, Jason, the garden that we were stuck in? The Lust Garden or something? I think it was actually a pretty good experience.”  
　　“Yea, now we have to love-birds on our hands except they don’t know what to do with each other,” he rolled his eyes but secretly agreed, nevertheless.   
　　It was only a matter of luck that Persephone heard them. “You four were stuck in the Meadow of Lust? How did you find it?” Her tone was too grave to be joking, yet too amused to be depressed. She was almost...analyzing.   
　　“Well, we passed out. It was to strong for mortals. But somehow either Percy or Nico managed to wake up and lead us out of there.”  
　　“Was the scent too strong?” She inquired. Percy quietly remembered that she, Persephone, the goddess of flowers and springtime, was a co-founder of the Meadow of Lust itself.   
　　“I dunno, maybe if it had been stronger we would’ve have passed out.” The son of Poseidon’s voice was flat and monotone, completely expression the joy that he had in being a major part of this discussion. Nico, next to him, blushed beat red and squeezed his hand a little harder. The simple flashback of the time in the Meadow of Lust... Percy could only tell you that he understood why it was named the Meadow of Lust.   
　　“The flowers’ scent,” Persephone started, “actually is known to be ‘revealing’ and ‘eye-opening’.”   
　　“Oh, it was certainly eye-opening for us. Especially us.” Every looked at Percy; this time, he didn’t even bother to roll his sea-green eyes but went right on walking.   
　　Suddenly, as if someone had flipped on a switched, Persephone sobered up and magnificently intricate doors stood before them, looming over them in an ominous fashion. It was an impending doom, like another pair of gates that they had to survive through.   
　　The usually flowery and cheery goddess opened her mouth to say something, then thought the better of it and instead, silently opened the door. They all held their breaths, not knowing what to expect.   
　　And oh, did the surprise hit them hard.


	25. Repossess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry for this totally... almost pointless chap really. I don't believe I can upload sooner, although I do also believe that the ending is nearing... *tears*... see u soon, hopefully

The dark blindfold was roughly ripped off of Piper’s eyes, and the single lightbulb hanging from the unreachably high and dark ceiling hung like a single star in the infinite universe. 

“So, where’s the Mistress?” Piper looked back as not-Annabeth calmly returned her cold gaze. “Please don’t tell me that’s she’s one of those crazy invisible goddesses or something. Or invisible spirit. I’ve had enough for a lifetime.”

“Mistress will be here shortly,” was the only reply. The blonde’s back was to the door, and Piper spun around to face her. “Why so rude?”

Silence. The door to the hallway was still open, and no matter how dark it seemed, she needed to get out of this room. All she hoped was that there was no herd of monsters right outside, waiting for their dinner. Or breakfast, either way. The ropes around her wrists gave her a huge disadvantage when it came to fighting and balance but, oh, she just hoped to the gods that she could get out of this without dying. She just needed to distract a little. 

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you manners?”

“Better to have no parents than parents who don’t care.” Not-Annabeth smirked as she saw that her remark struck a dangerous chord. 

“That’s not true.”

“Is it?”

“I dunno. Maybe. I have been ditched as a kid and left to die with a stupid son of Hephaestus with a fake boyfriend to remember-” While the blonde had anticipated a rant and argument, she did not, however, expect the shorter demigod’s shoulder to ram her into the wall, bruising her ribs and expelling all her breath. 

The door was open for Mistress, and for the room to avoid getting stuffy, not to be used as an escape route. The spirit-possessing-demigod smoothly tripped the daughter of Aphrodite and pulled her wrists high above her head, as far as they could go without forcing the tendons to rip. Not-Annabeth respected the way the demigod held in her scream and instead tried to dislodge the taller (not to mention heavier) teen, although, in vain. 

The room spun in a way that it was not supposed to, and Piper really should’ve seen the floor coming to her. Her now nonexistent sense of balance didn’t help her when she struggled to her knees and hands, hoping to get back up. A kick sent her flying against the wall, and she felt a horrible sense of deja vú as a cold golden eyes stared down at her with a mixed look of superiority and empathy. The brunette swung her foot upwards and non so gently aimed for not-Annabeth’s knee, who didn’t take it so kindly. As the blonde slipped down onto one knee, and knocked Piper’s head in between the stone floor and her elbow. The spinning effect came back, but this time with a sudden urge to throw up. Fortunately, there was nothing in Piper’s stomach, but her insides churned and her mind protested like there was no tomorrow. Her vision was blurry and her breaths came in pained pants; a thick liquid slowly dripped down onto her neck, under her collar, from a knot in the back of her head as she was sat down in a hard wooden chair.

“Mistress is coming, and if you don’t listen immediately, get ready for, what do you call it? A world of pain.” Oh c’mon, Piper wanted to roll her eyes, she’s been through war. She wasn’t going to comply with a simple nod. Instead, she gave the biggest and bravest smile that she could muster under the dire circumstances. 

“Kinky.”

She felt something crack as barely stifled a moan after not-Annabeth stomped down - hard- onto her toes. Her vision seemed to go fuzzy, and the grey of her surroundings merged with the golden hue created by the light. A shuffling of cloth indicated anther person and, with her suddenly horrible eyesight, she spotted an elderly woman whose face reminded her of the Fates (not that she had actually, personally encountered them). There were lines of age, yet not enough to state how much she had lived through in her immortality. She didn’t know how to respond with the black wings that unfurled from the rags that she wore and the swirling in her inky black eyes. 

Maybe she was just hallucinating. 

And maybe being a demigod is just a really bad dream and she’s going to wake up at her old school, in the Grand Canyon. 

Maybe she was dead. 

Maybe she wasn’t. 

This was all so confusing. 

The table laid out for her was old and wooden, with twelve normal cards faced down, in rows of four.,for each of the Olympians sitting on their thrones Or was it rows of four and columns of three? She could never get the hang of that entire thing. The old woman smiled at her, gaping holes where teeth should’ve been. The blonde inclined her head and kept her head bowed and her stature taunt, a posture of reverence and respect. “Mistress.”

“Ah, the young spirit. I see you have been have good use of body I had delivered to you?”

Not-Annabeth hissed as if in pain, but answered nevertheless, her head still bowed. The joking and (sorry for Piper to say, but) sexual not-Annabeth seemed nonexistent as this sober spirit took over. Somehow it reminded her of Leo. Laughing was a good way to hide the pain. Woah, where did that come from?

“Who’re you? Why’d you kidnap me? Are you a god?”

Mistress laughed. “Young demigod, I am not merely a god. I am Lupe, goddess of misery and painful memories. Just my bidding,” suddenly, Piper found herself as a young child again, rebuked by the disapproving stare of her father, “and I will have you at my mercy. And your petty little friends at that, also.”

“You’ll never get them. They’re too good for evil people like you.” Not-Annabeth’s face was stricken, but her skin was pale and clammy, as if she was battling a tense fever. Her golden eyes were flickering- flashing with specks of grey before turning gold a moment after. It looked beautiful and mesmerizing, like a graceful owl in flight through the soundless night. 

Mistress only grinned at her reply. “Choose a card, any card.”

“Will I have a shot at winning anything? I usually don’t gamble. That’s one thing my father taught me when I was younger,” Piper grinned. “I thought that was so ‘Indian’ of him, but-”

“Careful with your words, young demigod. Once fall move, and...” Mistress (Piper preferred to call her an elderly) flipped up a card that had a picture of Hades on it and the word ‘Προδομένος*’ It burst into a circle of green Greek fire; Lupe didn’t need any words to complete her sentence. 

“Choose a card? What will you do to me?”

“This is only, simply, the Fate of, what do mortals call it, your loved ones?” She grinned evilly, as all villains do. “So, choose any card, do what you must, young demigod.”

“B-but what if I don’t? I’m not the prophesy-er. I’m not the prophet, or the Delphi of the Oracle. I can’t predict anything.” A dagger found its way towards her neck, still ringing from being sheathed. “A-as I said before, huh, kinky.” A thick liquid trailed down her neck into her collar, running over already clotted blood. The blood loss was creating dizzying side effects- quite literally.

“Choose. One.” The paradoxical whisper in her ear almost showed a compassion. A warmth that ancient Greek deities seemed to always lack. “For your own sake.” 

“Yes, honey, and for the sake of those in my control.”

Piper was silent in return. Then: “They are not under your control.”

“What little you do know, demigod-”

“My name’s Piper, not ‘demigod’, you stupid little hag,” the daughter of Aphrodite spat out, “and you just feel like you need to control something, you need to be above something because your father or some shit decided not to look after you, let me guess, Hades? Where could’ve all this misery come from, anywhere else but the Underworld? Not enough daddy-time?”

“Young demigod, you are only reflecting upon yourself. A childhood devoid of attention, you poor child.” A whithered hand, dead as the Underworld itself, reached out to stroke her cheek, and she lashed out with a growl. She didn’t care if her throat was split. She would die trying to keep her friends from- “You friends, their cries for help, what they need to do to survive, their silent tears. All in a suffering room, deep under the earth. Where he shall never rise again.”

“They’re... Underground? We’re underground? They’re underground, like under the wor-” a gasp. “They’re in the Underworld. You don’t have them, you lying bitch, they’re with Hades. And he’s currently...not rising again.”

“My,” Lupe smiled. “For a daughter of Aphrodite, you seem to be a very good liability. How would you like to explore some more of your potential?”

“Umm, is this the part where you try to recruit me? Like, seriously? So mainstream.” Her headache wasn’t getting better, but at least the blood flowed had ceased quite a bit. Still, there was a steady stream of blood exiting her body as she spoke, not to mention the hallucinations. Or at least she thought the were hallucinations. Visions and memories flew past her mind; the most prominent, the night when she was out at the shore, sitting and cooling down from a fight with another demigod, with Annabeth. The moonlit beach was hues of blue and grey, cerulean and silver. “I miss the old Annabeth,” Piper tried to look sideways towards her girlfriend. “She would know what to do, and would know how to get out of here. Together, safely.” A tear slipped past her dirtied and bloodied cheek, leaving a fresh trail. “She would know how to save her loved ones.”

“So, join your comrade in battle together, join against the wretched gods. You yourself know how much this can produce, how much light can come out of darkness. Just swear on the river Styx. No matter what you do, I can ensure that you can stay with your loyal and loving significant other. Just say the words.”

‘It’s just like charmspeak,’ Piper thought to herself. ‘If only my powers were that efficient, or my plans enough to save everyone. Then Annabeth and I would both be safe at Camp Half-Blood, helping Nico regain his memories and stay with Percy, together, so that they can...’

“...love one another...” Permanent grey specks were slowly appearing in the blonde’s irises, still as beautiful as before, yet now lost. It was as if something was revealed to her, and due to that, Annabeth doesn’t know what to do. There was an inner, self- conflict that none were aware of. Hot tears followed the first, burning their way down and spilling onto the clotted blood on her collarbone. “Annabeth.”

With a frustrated cry, Annabeth drove her dagger into the wooden table, a mere inch away from the ‘goddess‘s’ hand. She struck blindingly fast, grabbing nothing but black dust when her hand apparently grasped Lupe’s rags. The single light in the room created an enchanting effect on the currently action, making Annabeth’s golden locks a halo around her. Being a Greek demigod and all that, Piper surely wasn’t religious but Annabeth surely was an angel in this moment. Her stormy and intelligent grey eyes told her to run, but the brunette can’t leave her girlfriend here, even if she was going to be a burden, like every other time. She was just a daughter of Aphrodite. 

She needed to prove that she could do this. That she wasn’t just dead weight to her friends. She needed to get, she needed contact. Iris messaging. Oh, how could she have been so stupid! But she needed a drachma... “Annabeth,” her voice came out in pained gasps; the dizzyness struck full-on as she stood up to face the challenges. “Drachma. Need to contact others. Now.”

Annabeth stood with her back to the door, facing her bleeding and possibly dying girlfriend. Tear-stained cheeks and crusted blood and fading light from her eyes. Her vision flickered, and so stood the tall blonde with a cheeky grin and a carefree look, short blonde hair undoing over his long scar. 

Luke. But he was dead, and she was now staring at her current lover, who needed her help. Piper smiled at her, nodding once encouragingly for her to go on.

With a determined nod, the daughter of Athena pulled out the golden coin from her back pocket, something that all three of them (including Lupe) had passed over in the chaos of all this. They managed to walk back to the room- well, Piper limped- where she was held captive and it was glad to say that the mist was still heavy and the rainbow still there, but fading fast. Annabeth flipped the coin through, her voice steel:

“Percy Jackson, Underworld.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *"Betrayed" in Greek


	26. Awaken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOO is coming out tomorrow! In a couple of hours, and almost had a mental break down when I found out this morning... Hope you guys are as excited as I am! Well, enjoy~

They all saw the pale, lean figure lying on the stone tablet, looking as if on the brink of death. For a god of the Dead himself, Hades looked almost pitiable. Percy never took a liking to Hades, ever since he had tried to kill him, but seeing this made his head swim like nothing else; the others were equally surprised at the condition that he was in.

"W-why is he like..." Hazel's question trailed off at a long-drawn breath that indicated struggling. Struggling, they realized, for life. They were in a depressing, stone room, in an even more depressing situation. Hazel, instead of finishing her sentence, asked, "Why is he like that?"

Persephone's sad gaze confused the quartet. That's when Nico spotted the dark aura slowly diminishing from around the pale god. It seemed as weak as a trivial candle fire- one that clearly used to be bright, but now dying and flickering ever so often. "Is something draining him?" He found himself asking. The goddess of flowers and sunshine nodded slowly once. The only light in the room seemed to come from an unknown source, somewhat creating effects like the surface's moonlight, and it cast a cold shadows onto the walls. Ancient demons, mythological monsters, hideous spirits coming to them from all sides. Even the goddess seemed a bit wary of every little twitch, every little whisper of the palace.

" _Peacefully sleeping, with your cerulean eyes so clear,_

_Why don't you wake to see reality with me, here_

_Don't worry, don't cry, there's nothing to fear_

_We'll both be alright if we stay near_

_So open your sight and lift your chin up, dear_

_Now please wake up, with your cerulean eyes so clear."_

The others stared Nico with a vehement shock at his quiet outburst. His warm golden irises held a soft sympathy, the secret of the ages, understanding of all of the worlds. The graceful curve of his lips served to clear their minds, all of their wishes, their goals, their trusted and love ones; Percy gazed at the son of Hades, a warmth enveloped his hest, and his heart felt like it was about to burst. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant pain, love shrouding his vision, and the golden gaze turned onto him. That gentle smile, the way his pale skin glowed i n the darkness, the only light in the surrounding darkness. Yet something was off.

"Son of Poseidon, you have chosen well. Still come times where you will be faced with even heavier choices," came the voice, "as of the young demigod's memories, I believe that you will need to give him some time to combat his own darkness. But beware, you may not be happy with all the darkness that you see."

"I'm pretty sure that all the darkness in this world will be able to keep me away from Nico. I swear to all my life, that I will regain his memories, or die trying. I swear on the River Styx."

Jason unsheathed his sword, suddenly on high alert and body acknowledging that they were currently in a stone room with a dying god, a possessed friend, a flower goddess with anxiety issues, an incredibly confused daughter of the Underworld, the stupid son of Poseidon who just swore off his life, and him. This was a dire, not-very-good situation to be placed in. Once again in his life, Jason silently cursed the gods under his breath. "Who are you?"

"I shall reveal myself when the time has come. I expect that you will be meeting my sister spirit, Lupe, soon. I wish you four all the best of luck." The son of Hades blinked slowly once before tipping onto his side as it seemed as if his feet could not carry his weight anymore. Fortunately, Percy had caught him before he hit the floor, and he waited patiently as the shorter teen regained his sense of balance and reality once more. Hazel looked shell-shocked; she wasn't green or pale or traumatized, just incredibly confused.

"That felt like any other magic I have ever encountered. That was..."

"Totally creepy?" Percy offered.

"Scary and unexpected?" Jason answered instead.

"Huh?" Nico stared, confused at the rest of their company.

"Strange," Hazel said, confident with her chosen adjective, "very, incredibly strange. And she didn't tell us about her, nor did she harm Nico other than drain his energy. And her magic made me happy. Content." Jason re-sheathed his sword.

"So," Percy snorted, "a non-evil, possessing spirit. That would be a first."

"That was not just any spirit, that was," Persephone hesitated. "Well, if she believes that you four should know her name until later, then she shall do so her self."

"But then," the daughter of Pluto hesitated. "Why did she make the poem. It sounded nice, but I feel like it didn't have any reference to what's, like, happening now. It wouldn't be another prophecy, would it?" Her voice sounded slightly horrified at the end, and the other demigods seemed equally mortified. Well, except the confused Nico di Angelo.

"I don't...think that was a prophecy," he offered, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"I agree. It sounded more lax and poetic. Less concerned with Greek mythology and the Fates."

Percy snorted again, completely dissatisfied with what they were reaching. "What else would it be? It's just another riddle that we need to solve, for another ridiculous answer that doesn't make sense, and has nothing to do with 'opening cerulean eyes', what the hell is 'cerulean', anyways? Some kind of Greek word?"

Jason sighed. This was his Roman replacement in the prophecy of seven, in the war against Gaea. Sure, he respected him as a warrior, but... "Percy, cerulean is a color-"

"That's it!" The others jumped at Hazel's exclaim. " _Open your sight_. Don't you get it?  _Hades_." Aphrodite seemed to be the only one who understood.

"Open his eyes, with the flower from the Meadow-"

"Of Lust!" Hazel cut her off with an ecstatic cry. Then, "Sorry, I don't mean any disrespect." Persephone shook her head. She held the plant pot that she had carried in (habitually) when they had walked in; the corners of her lips rose a bit as a glimmering flower simultaneously rose out of the dirt. It hadn't stop glowing until she plucked it out of the dirt, but even then, the graceful beauty of it remained. The demigods watched in awe and fascination as the goddess worked her magic to save the god of the dead.

While, in the moment, a tugging in the back of his mind pulled and pulled until he fully embraced. There was something extremely familiar, something about this man that lay dying in front of him. He continued to stare and was determined to solve this mystery; the goddess stepped in front of him and laid the flower on top of Hades' outstretched palm, but not before kissing him once on the forehead. Almost immediately, he regained the slight color that he had in his complexion, and the memories, the thoughts, the remembrance itself, hit the son of Hades like a ton of bricks. This man was...with him when he stood with Percy, looked down upon him, and asking him to complete something. Surely, not all of his memories were gained, but he could remember enough with Hades in them. The most vivid was one where he and the god were standing at the river's end, and he looked sad, close to remorseful.

Nico took a tentative step closer. All other thoughts fled. 'I know him,' went the silent mantra inside of him, 'I know this pale, tall, dark and brooding man.' The demigod fell to his knees, the ringing in his ears stilling as a small piece of the jigsaw puzzle fell into place; one chocked whisper to break the silence apart and shatter whatever illusion he had been under.

"Hades."

The wilted flower fell to the cold stone floor, petals dissolving and leaving no trace of existence as the god rose to his full majestic glory from his deep slumber. In sudden shock, the son of Hades jumped up and reeled back; Persephone bowed her head respectively as the quartet stood in wonder. "My Lord."

"Persephone.." she lifted her head and they were all somewhat moved to see tears of joy and relief collect in those usually bright and indifferent eyes. He smiled warily at her expression before returning to his neutral state. "And what brings you four to the Underworld?" If he was shocked to see Nico there, he didn't show it.

"Uh, Pluto- I mean Hades, we, uh-"

Percy have a strained laugh (more of a cough) at the blonde's stumbling. Even though he was equally in shock and awe of immortality, the green-eyed teen faced the God of the Underworld head on when the withering glance approached him. The tension was practically palpable in the stone chamber. Percy cleared his throat once, twice, a third time.

"We need to get Nico's memories back."


	27. Heal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Srry guys for the late update!!! This time, I actually have a valid excuse: my notebook (like, a tiny laptop) broke down and I had to have it repaired, only to find out that it needed a completely new case and the wires and engine thingy had refused to work and connect. Fortunately, I got a new laptop, and just transferred my old laptop’s hard drive to this one’s so… here I am. Enjoy~

Her father’s pleas for mercy.

Her friend’s dying breath because she wouldn’t make a simple choice.

Olympus falling because she failed to fulfill the prophesy.

The world, her world, burning and a living hell because she couldn’t bring herself to fight, and she only slowed the others down, slowly, one by one, until they would start to die off-

Piper woke with a start. It took a moment for her to realize that she was staring up at the ceiling of a familiar place, somewhere she had been but had never bothered to pay much attention to. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks moving at the velocity of a train at full speed: she was lying down quite comfortably in the infirmary of Camp Half-Blood. She swore that if she was drugged by something, she would personally kick the Mistress’s butt. It was one thing to be beat up viciously by your possessed girlfriend, but another to actually torture them. Gods, she missed this place. Piper had been dying of hunger, thirst, confusion, boredom, fear, every moment she was under Lupe’s control. She could only think of what Annabeth would do, how the daughter of Athena would be able to find a logical solution out of this.

There was a sharp smell in the air, and it wasn’t until the popcorn ceiling blurred that Piper realized that there were tears collecting in her eyes, her throat burning, and her heartbeat speeding up. She missed Annabeth, and how they would make fun of each other, how they would secretly hold hands under the table during lunch in the noisy Mess Hall, how they would complain about how stupid the male population of Greek mythology were, and most of all, expressing how much comfort and trust that they had put in one another. Piper would never hesitate in giving her life into Annabeth's hands, and vice versa. She wanted to be mad, to be intimidating and dauntless and ferocious and aggressive so she could actually fight back, but she only felt a phantom pain for her other half, an aching sorrow that shot a bullet hole through her heart.

“Piper, it’s okay. You’re safe. You’re at Camp Half-Blood.” A deep masculine voice washed over her, and although the daughter of Aphrodite would ever know, she thought that it had some effects of charmspeak. The tone was warm and home-y for the demigods who thought they no longer had a family. The words were comforting as well, and Piper struggled to sit up, a dizzying headache coming to attack her. She looked at the tired yet relieved centaur, the lines of his face prominent, yet making him look more of a father than a mentor. “Good you’re awake. It was quite a scare, when Annabeth dragged you here, both of you, bloodied and bruised. You stayed unconscious for a couple of days, but it seems that you will be making a full recovery.”

“Annabeth,” Piper managed to croak out, “she...where is she?”

“She should be taking a walk, clearing her mind off of the things that happened recently,” where she was possessed a spirit who serves someone who may or may not be trying to kill their friends all the way in the Underworld, and was forced to kidnap, interrogate, and torture her girlfriend. Somehow, Piper thought that the words left unsaid were the cruelest of all.

“Can you...” A coughing fit grabbed the brunette by the throat and wouldn’t let go. It seemed so bad that Will from the Apollo cabin had to come and give her instructions on how to breathe; a little ambrosia helped her, but her voice was still as raspy and as husky as ever.

“I’ll call her.” Chiron stood up in all of his authority and sauntered (trotted?) out of the infirmary, going ahead to look for Annabeth. In the meanwhile, Piper tried to leave the resting chamber that she was in and get to her feet, but she felt both as heavy-limbed and unbalanced as lead, and as light and unstable as a piece of paper billowing in the howling winds of January; maybe she felt neither. As far as she could tell (after Will helped her get back into bed and vehemently told her to stay there for the rest of the day) from staring at the popcorn ceiling, everything hurt: her forehead, her shoulders, the back of her head, her ribs, her sides, her hips, her ankles, her calves, her forearms, her neck, her eyes, her throat, her heart.

She continued to waste her time pointlessly staring at the different patterns and faces and monsters created in the plaster above her head, with her imagination. Piper felt like she was having some sort of out-of-body experience and kinds of crap until she heard the wooden door click quietly and the floor squeak. The footfalls were to light to be Chiron’s or Will’s, so that left everyone else out. Except for a certain blonde.

“Piper.” That one heartbroken statement, the breaking down afterwards, the daughter of Aphrodite used to wonder, why would people cry when others cried? Why would anyone bother to be so cliché and cry over their formerly, nearly-dead girlfriend or boyfriend? Now, she reassuringly ran her hands down the blonde’s back, whose eyes were puffy from constant sleep deprivation and tears. “Gods, what have I done? Piper, Piper, I’m so, so sorry-”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have done anything else. You were possessed, and by a spirit. But you managed to keep us both safe and returned back to the camp. That’s all I could wish for, for us to be happy, together, and safe. Well, not dead,” Piper added with a bit of forethought into the last part. The two teenagers- children, practically- couldn’t help but grin at the statement. Then their smiles lacked, and their expressions became grim. Too much of a burden, it seemed, for those so young.

“I should have been able to control myself, I’m a daughter of Athena. I run on logic, not emotions or my mentality.” She sighed and stared down into her hands, elbows resting on her jean-clad knees. “I was so scared, Piper, that I’d lose you with your blood on my hands. I still am scared. What if I hurt you again? What if I’m more prone to being possessed now that I was? Will this ever happen again? What if it does? What if... What if I k-kill you?”

“Shh,” Piper lifted her girlfriend’s chin up with a finger, staring into the stormy orbs drowning a clear sea of fear and pain. “Fears are illogical, even the ones that seem to make sense. That’s why we all have different fears. I was worried about losing you to a spirit forever.”

“Piper, you’re loyal, and kind, and a strong person. I-I’m... mentally and emotional unstable, and I know it. I’m scared of myself, of the potential I have to become a monster, someone like, I don’t know, Octavian, a murderer, even a petty thief.”

“Annabe-”

“I’m scared of not being in control. I’m scared of my own brain, my mind, my intellect, Piper. What if I can’t handle it and it unleashed on me all of a sudden? There could be so many things that could go wrong-”

“Annabeth Chase.” Piper’s stern voice, yet not scolding, made the blonde look up and stare into the ever-changing orbs that she had learned to fall in love with. They were always compassionate, full of love, and caring when they came to her. “We’re all a little mentally stable, and we all have fears of our own. But the fact that you carried out with the stupid demigod life that we’re stuck with proves how strong you are.

“You managed to drive the spirit out before Lupe and save the both of us. You can be smart, but a person can never learn to have a heart like you do. You make the best of situations with both your logic and your emotions- that’s what makes you such a good leader. You know where to cross the line, and you know what would benefit everyone the most.” She reached out and gently held the taller demigod’s cheek, cupping her face with her wide grey eyes, her pouty lips, her tall nose, her high cheekbones, her flushed cheeks. It was all that she had fallen for, and all that she falls in love day after day, night after night, prophecy after prophesy, eternity after eternity.

“That’s also why. What if everyone’s depending on me, and I fail to do my job? What if I fail them? What if my intellect gets the better of me, or my emotions let reason run away?”

“We’re all only human,” the daughter of Aphrodite smiled and held out her arms, not knowing what else to do but also knowing that this was the right thing to do. “And we all make mistakes. There’s always going to be death and love and life in itself, you know? You can’t do anything about it- just leave it to the gods and Fates. Don’t worry so much, okay?”

Annabeth nodded, her stormy eyes illuminated more due to the red rims. She was beautiful, Piper thought, beautiful and the only one to complete me. The blonde instantly hugged the shorter brunette, whispering into her ear. “Thank you, Piper. Gods, I missed you, I love you, I’m sorry, I love you so, so much, thank you…”

After some more tears and some more confessions and some more heart breaking yet mending moments, the two separated and were met by Chiron who apologized if he were interrupting something. Both demigods shook their heads, and the centaur  spoke up the impending question that had been lingering in the background for some time:

“Does anybody have any news of the traveling quartet?”

Annabeth shook her head. “But we could try Iris Messaging them, and ask them. Maybe we could pinpoint their destination by the Iris Message and someone from the Hecate cabin. And we could bring a chariot with Blackjack; that way we can contact Percy and then lead us straight to him.” Piper grinned at her analytical planning and the natural way she took charge of the situation at hand.

“Told you, you were a leader.” Annabeth blushed and gently swatted her girlfriend’s arm, a motion to keep quiet. Chiron nodded with a small smile on his face.

“That would be a good idea. I’ll contact the counselor for the Hecate cabin. Here’s a drachma for the Iris Message. Good luck.” Chiron said. Then he was no longer in the infirmary; it was just Piper and Annabeth again.

“Well, if we can find and warn them about Lupe, then it would be alright. But what I’m really worried about it Nico’s memories…”

“Hey,” Piper said, “I remember, right before we, uh, left the camp, you were talking about the prophesy that the Oracle said. It was like, um…” The daughter of Aphrodite set aside the blankets and prepared to swing over the side for the Iris Message, but not had her nose and eyebrows scrunched up in the way that she always had when stuck deep in thought. “The daughter of love will be captured and… what was it?”

Annabeth answered as if it were something as obvious as her own name.

“ _The daughter of love shall be captured and sealed_

_Until the owl comes to repeal_

_The sea and death will clash against_

_Until the sealing of vows have commenced_

_The hidden angel shall never resurface_

_Until the son of Poseidon retrieves the mace_

_Despair shall reign as the loner_

_Until Elpis once against takes over_

_Soon will be nothing more than a memory_

_Until the turn of the century._ _”_

“Yea,” Piper nodded lamely. “That. You were explaining something about hidden angels and Nico. And a son of Poseidon, Percy, duh. Something else about the river Lethe and how it wasn’t actually just a river but a goddess and there’s another goddess or something of memory?”

“Yeah, her name is Mnemosyne. Just like Lethe is a goddess portrayed and represented by a physical river, Mnemosyne is represented by a pool, apparently right next to it. Although, it may be veiled by a certain type of Mist, nobody can know for sure because it was never recorded in hist-”

“Hey,” a brunette popped her head into the infirmary. “Chiron told me that you guys need some magical help.”

“Lou Ellen, right?” Piper smiled. “Yeah we need help and possibly another, fresh perspective on this.”

“Cool. So what can I help with?”

As the Hecate cabin member/counselor sat down, the blonde spoke up, once again leading the soon to-be mission. “We need to know if you can create some sort of magic that allows tracking. It doesn’t have to be very specific, but maybe somewhere in the neighborhood?”

“Sure. As long as you have some sort of clothing that they have or something that they use often. Basically something that has their scent on it.” Annabeth snorted at this, much to the other two’s confusion.

“Just get one of Percy’s shirts. There should be plenty of his scent on it.” Lou Ellen grinned and Piper wrinkled her nose, but her lips curved upwards as well.

“Men.”

“Right?” The three of them laughed and Annabeth turned on the sink at the counter of the infirmary, just below the cabinets full of ambrosia. The light from the window created a natural rainbow from the small cascade of trickling water and she immediately flipped the coin in. “Percy Jackson.” Green eyes flickered in, and then out. The image disappeared, strangely.

“That’s weird,” Lou Ellen muttered. “Unless there was someone that he was directly in front of that was a god or no reception.”

“No reception?”

“Underworld, mainly palace of Hades,” the daughter of Hecate said.

“Ah, makes sense.” Fishing another drachma out of her pocket, she flipped the gold through and called another name. “Hazel Levesque.” This time, the message went though and they were staring at the short African American who was involved in a complicated game involving slapping, rock-papers-scissors, and yelling with Jason Grace. Piper laughed and the two Roman demigods turned, both blushing a high scarlet when they realized that they were being watched.

“Uh, hi,” Hazel said.

“Hi,” Jason said.

“Hi,” Piper said.

“Um, hi,” Lou Ellen said.

“Okay, so,” Annabeth interjected with a roll of her eyes, “are you guys not with Percy and Nico? From the looks of your little game, it doesn’t seem like they’re in much trouble. Surprisingly.”

“Actually, they’re just talking to Hades. And Persephone.”

“What?” Piper did nothing to mask the worry that her expression showed. “Why?”

“Nico’s memories. Hades claims that he can’t do anything about it, and Persephone was crying and-“

“Why was a goddess crying?” Lou Ellen and Annabeth’s voice rang out consecutively, like an echo of one another’s. It only proved how much their experience with goddess’s went; in Annabeth’s case, she didn’t know that they were even capable of crying. Lou Ellen just thought that they were some sort of ‘divine beings’ that didn’t like to be disturbed. Piper’s eyes and open mouth also showed the incredibility of Jason’s statement.

“It’s actually a really long story,” Hazel supplied, somewhat helpful (no, not really). “Hades was asleep and we used some flower from the Meadow of Lust to wake him up because Nico was possessed by some good spirit, and- yea it’s complicated.”

“Okay, so… Annabeth and I returned safely as you can see,” Piper motioned to themselves with one hand and the infirmary with another, “and turns out this evil spirit named Lupe called ‘Mistress’ tried to kill me or something, with Annabeth, I really don’t see the point behind all of what she did.”

“Nico was possessed?” Annabeth’s voice rose as Piper stopped in the middle of her nervous breakdown. Lou Ellen seemed like she would back down at any moment, but being a demigod required guts, and she certainly showed it now. Being with any four members of the old Seven of Gaea prophesy might seem intimidating and crazy. Welcome to the life of a demigod.

“It’s complicated,” the daughter of Pluto repeated.

“Anyways,” Annabeth shook her head visibly, clearing her thoughts. “It’s too dangerous to be out there. If Nico can retrieve his memory, then good; if not, then I suggest that you guys come back. Lupe’s out loose and we don’t know what we’re up against. Maybe we can delay a couple days at most, not even a full week. We don’t want to you disappear of the face of the earth. And if a spirit was capable of possessing me inside of the camp boundaries, then it’s certainly not safe out there for you four. Even if you are in the presence of a god who was asleep, according to what you said.”

“But we’ve made it all the way here,” Jason protested, suddenly defensive, “and Nico and Percy really want to retrieve the memories that he let go. It doesn’t feel good to forget everything and be left for dead. Even if you meet new people you’re always lost, always don’t know what you have to do and what the meaning to existence is. You forget everything. It’s like you’re missing everything.” The female demigods grew quiet as Jason practically confessed over Iris Message. Then, Hazel spoke up, a fire in her eyes.

“We’re not leaving until Nico gets his memories back.”

“What if something happens? What if a malevolent spirit possesses one of you?” Annabeth counter-argued, “Because we’re not in a position to be vulnerable right now. Especially you guys.”

“Nico needs his memories back. If you’re coming to get us, good luck. We’re in the Underworld, outside of the Hades palace.” Annabeth made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat and Piper’s face grew long shadows.

“We could make our way towards you and try to help you,” she said in a quiet voice, “because wasn’t the whole quest based on trying to get Nico’s memories back?”

“How ‘bout this,” the daughter of Hecate rolled her eyes, “I lead everyone to where you guys are in general and help for like a day or two. If that doesn’t work, then we’re outta there. That gives you guys like a day to solve that problem with Nico’s memories or whatever.” The others reluctantly muttered their agreement as they all saw that this argument could go on for days, if not weeks. The things that one would do for friends.

“Okay, so see you in two days, I guess-” Hazel was abruptly cut off when some grey fog doused the Iris Message, cutting of the ‘reception’.

“Hey,” Piper frowned, “what happened? Did something go bad? Time extension please?”

Lou Ellen habitually raised her hand and seemed to sense a presence from around the room, or from the formerly connected Iris Message. “No, this isn’t even magic, this -”

“Lupe.” Annabeth finished for her. They three stared at each other before scrambling and hustling out of the infirmary, worry, anxiety, and fear in their wide eyes and open mouths. Not long after, they had three Pegasi reined to a light chariot, perfect for long-distance traveling. A completely back Pegasus stood in the front of the trio, eyes conveying worry for his boss.

“We’ll be back soon,” Annabeth reassured Chiron as Piper quickly coaxed the animals to start forward. After they launched, the three demigods only had time for a cursory glance back to their home before heading off to rescue their friends in need of it.

Oh they hoped that it wasn’t too late.


	28. Remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gods, it literally took me like a week to complete this chapter, and the writer's block… ugh. Well, sorry for not having this done earlier (as I just love to procrastinate) and yea. I hope to get the last chapters in before the year ends, but I try not to make promises. Anyways, enjoy~

"What do you mean you can't help us? Of course you can," an indignant Perseus Jackson exclaimed as he stalked after Hades. "You're the god of the Underworld and all its riches, blah blah blah. Can't gods do miraculous things? Key term 'god'? Why can't you get Nico's memories back? You're the god of the dead, for goodness sake. Don't gods try to prove how almighty and powerful they are?" the taller god kept his mouth shut in a thing line as he continued to walk down the marble hallway, demigods hot on his heels. "Just pull some voodoo shit and help us for once? Do something nice that doesn't require killing someone?"

Needless to say, the son of Poseidon did not keep his temper in check. Enraged, the tall Greek god spun around to face him, a full head taller than the still tall demigod. He glared at the green-eyed teen. "If I were you, insolent boy, I could learn to watch my tongue around people who can do certain "voodoo shit", as you call it. The "voodoo shit" seems to come hand-in-hand with death, it seems." Nico didn't know whether to be amused or horrified; he was content in believing that he was just a bit of both. Jason and Hazel had left the palace for some 'fresh air' and a 'recollection of their sanity'. Nico couldn't really blame them.

"And if I were you, I would get my son's memories back," Percy stubbornly combatted.

The son of Hades calmly watched as the son of Poseidon continued to pursue after his 'father', someone that he only barely remembered at the River. He had no idea what else to call the incident, but it seems that it caused a huge commotion that led the four demigods to come all the way to the Underworld to retrieve his memories back. He felt guilty to a certain extent, but watching Percy chase Hades was pretty funny.

But the son of Hades couldn't help but feel a bit anxious as he saw his 'father' (a stranger without his memories) and familiar Percy argue. He could feel shadows pulling at the edge of the room and the grey shapes that were always present in front of him. Sometimes, the figures would stop by to talk but their flesh had rotten away so that Nico couldn't tell what the person/soul looked like. Hazel and Jason had silently walked back into the room, and there was a slight troubled yet determined expression on their faces (especially Hazel) but she smiled Nico's concern away. "We're fine," she said.

Before the green-eyed teen could say anything, Nico put a gentle arm on Percy who jumped back when some of the grey figures started to get close to them. Quickly, Nico took his hand off but instead, stood in front of Percy and confronted Hades, looking up, up, up too met his father's gaze. "I-I'm sorry about the i-inconvenience… It's okay if you can't help us. We, I guess, just came here to see if we could find any leads."

Hades looked at his son. He the only mortal (and Greek) offspring that he had now, and had grown close to the small child. Still, the god couldn't stop Maria's son from jumping into the Lethe. Hades could relate to the countless prayers that the child had silently prayed, wishing to be gone from reality, wishing to meet Bianca again in the afterlife, wishing to be rid of the horrid and terrible pain known as 'grief' and 'love'. So he obliged Nico's wish, and here the innocent child was, without a naïve clue on how the world works. And yet… Hades' glance moved over to the taller brunette, who was still scowling at him. He looked back down at his child. The child that looked so much like Maria, the child that loved too much for his own good, the child that would do anything in love's name.

"Nico," he said in a soft tone, "why do you want to regain your memories? You yourself jumped into the Lethe to rid of your memories, but why do you believe that regaining them will make a difference?"

To his surprise, Nico shyly looked at the son of Poseidon over his shoulder, then stared at his beat-up sneakers. "W-we'll go-" Hades sighed.

"I'll show you how to find Lethe," the old millennium god replied with a sigh. He could see that the Roman demigods had returned, and that all four had perked up with interest in his words. "Follow, or are you reconsidering my offer?"

"Of course we'll go," Hazel quickly said. Her smile resembled more of a grimace, but she managed to pull it off. "After all, if would be rude."

Without another word, the god of the Underworld stalked off and out of the identical hallways past identical doors out of the palace. For every minute that they spend simply walking, the demigods grew restless and anxious, ADHD and ADD kicking in much worse than before. By the time that they had gotten to the grey river, Percy was bouncing on his feet, Jason nervously twirling a spare drachma in his hand, Hazel looking left and right every so often as if to spot enemies, and Nico kept moving. He didn't know whether he should stay in his position, move closer to Percy, move closer to Hades, or to move further away from both of them. The half-Italian felt his hands aimlessly toy with the hem of his shirt and his heart flutter like a bird fluttering furiously against the confines of his ribcage.

He saw Hades glance at them for a quick moment before chanting in Ancient Greek, somehow, as Nico and Percy understood. " _Oh Mnemosyne, I as the ruler of the Underworld, command your presence and wish to speak to you."_

Black dust from the bank of the Lethe began to collect into one pile, like a gravitational video being played backwards, until it formed the elegant shape of a thin woman; her face was pale and ageless, yet dark and ancient at the same time. Her expression changed every couple moments, ranging from sorrow and pained to euphoric and elated joy. Her eyes were closed but when they opened, the confusion disappeared, leaving only a narrow face with elegant and fragile bones; thin lips; smooth and creamy skin; wide eyes full of knowledge and comprehension. When she saw Hades, she respectfully bowed her head. "My Lord."

"This is Mnemosyne, or otherwise known as  _Memory_." However, when she looked at the demigods all in turn, the goddess' eyes widened; first at Hazel, then Jason, then Percy, and finally, at Nico. "Oh," she stared at Nico, looking if not a bit frightened. "Oh, my dear, dear child. Such a poor child. He didn't deserve all of that. All of you- merely children playing cards with the gods."

"Yes," Percy drawled out with a 'no-shit' look on his face, "because I just love playing Speed on Olympus. Especially with the gambling."

Mnemosyne went on as if she didn't hear him, rambling on and on about how they should've been left alone and "relieved of their suffering": to that, Percy nearly just put his hands up and cried something along the lines of 'amen', but he decided that religious sayings (at the moment) were a bit too much. Hades interrupted her, tone not as harsh as the others expected him to be.

"We have come about pressing matters on your ability to restore memories." The look on her face changed and, although Percy couldn't place how it had changed, it seemed to them that the goddess had aged multiple years in that one moment. The son of Poseidon couldn't help but have a stab of sorrow run through him as he remembered the encounter with his father who was extremely stressed out.

"Ah, yes, the young demigod," Mnemosyne stared pitifully at Nico who tried hard not to flinch under her deep scrutiny. "Let me tell you one thing, little angel, you have only forgotten because you have wanted to. I myself cannot implement any actions upon you- only influence." Nico took a deep breathing in: he wanted to remember, he wanted to regain a sense of identity that the others so confidently had; he didn't want to be stuck in a shell for the rest of his life and, most of all, he wanted to present the  _real_  Nico di Angelo to Percy.

He wanted to be himself again.

The goddess gave the hesitant demigod a look before going on. "If you are willing to remember, spawn of the Underworld, then do so. Little angel, this is all up to you."

Nico close his eyes, falling into the dark void in his mind, a cover over all of his memories. It was like a dark blanket that he needed to lift before he could get to the content underneath it. If he just reached out… a little more…

The son of Hades fell to his knees, flashes of memories and glimpses of the past flying before his eyes. His vision was obscured by the past, the past that was flooding back to him, never ceasing to stop. He was 10, meeting a green-eyed hero. He was seeing the others for the first time, the big seven.

He was mourning Bianca's death.

He was meeting a Percy Jackson who had lost his own memories, who had his memories forcefully taken from him.

He was captured by the twin giants during the second Titan war.

He in Croatia with Jason, confessing his stupid feelings to Cupid.

He was in Tartarus, the deep and dark and cold and lonely pits of Tartarus.

He was bringing Hazel from the underworld, his sister.

He was holding Percy's hand and traveling naively through the Underworld.

He was in the Meadow of Lust

He was convincing Hades with a slight stutter.

He was standing in front of the grey Lethe, both forgetting, remembering.

He was remembering.

Nico's eyes flew open, and he accepted Percy's hand to help himself up. The son of Poseidon looked worried and, if not, a bit expectant. Hazel was looking just worried as she let out a sigh of relief as he stood up. Jason asked what was wrong, what had happened. His father and Mnemosyne were staring down at him, slight uncertainty and concern written on their faces. Percy was holding his hand, a constant anchor in his sea of turmoil.

"I remember."


	29. Vow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am truly sorry. Every time I come back to write, the story gets longer and more complicated. (=).(=)- [that's me...]
> 
> My brain throws idea after idea that I have no idea where this is going right now. Sorry for the late update, and I promise to have the next chapter in soon. Also, if you are interested, I am debating on whether or not to write a short chapter describing Lupe's past. So yes, leave a comment behind on whether or not you want to read that. Thanks- Have a Happy New Year!

_Percy was holding his hand, a constant anchor in his sea of turmoil._

" _I remember."_

Mnemosyne smiled at him, understanding and comfort in the midst of all the confusion. Then, the goddess started to glow and Hades looked genuinely surprised at her sudden configuration; Nico couldn't help but notice as Percy shifted his body to shield the younger teen from view and turn his back to the glowing goddess as well. All the demigods shut their eyes tightly, knowing that they wouldn't be able to survive the experience to tell of a goddess shining in gold if they continued to stare. Well, Jason  _had_  survived, but he wasn't going to take any lucky chances after the encounter with Hera.

"There is no need to shade your eyes, young demigods." The voice sounded slightly amused, Percy thought, but when he looked up, he saw an ageless face, a face that had represented all of history, all of those who have lived, are living, will live. It looked, physically, like Mnemosyne, and yet it was so  _un_ like her that you couldn't help but suspect that it wasn't her. All knew that Mnemosyne was no longer Mnemosyne, but the only difference that they could see were that her eyes were yellow, like soft honey instead of the molten gold that the others were accustomed to during spirit/body possession. "I am Elpis, the spirit of Hope."

"You're… Hope?" The demigods stared at her in apprehension as Percy voiced his question.

"Yes. I am essentially the spirit of Hope, Elpis." She rested her cool gaze on him. "Do you have a problem, son of Poseidon?"

"No, we just didn't…expect Hope to be in such a tangible form," Jason intervened politely. They didn't need spirits ganging up with Gods against them in  _any_  lifetime. Especially one who classifies herself as Hope; they already had an evil spirit on their tails. Elpis only looked at them expectantly, a small smile on her lips.

"There is no need to fear, demigods. I have no intention of sending your souls into the Underworld."

"Uh, we're already in the Underworld." Nico kicked Percy. They gave each other annoyed looks, but Nico could help but roll his eyes as the taller teen put his hands up in frustration. "What? We are." The son of Hades put his hands up in an exasperated gesture. Then, he simply shook his head. There was nothing he nor anybody else could do to change Percy's mentality.

Elpis laughed merrily, with her head thrown back and her mouth open and eyes closed shut. "You are indeed, young demigod, you are indeed." She seemed amused rather than offended, and even Hazel's jaw had dropped when she saw that the goddess hadn't blast Percy to cinders. "I can see that you all are confused."

"Yea," Jason agreed, " 'I am Hope' isn't really specific."

"Very well." She complied. "I originated from Pandora's box, and was the last of the original to be sent out. Yet despite everyone's need for Hope, I am merely a spirit and, as you know, possession is the only way that I can appear physically. I often take over Mnemosyne's body that I have been permanently engrained into her soul. Mortals may call such things 'split personality'."

Hazel and Percy grimaced, both simultaneously recalling the day they had to subdue the conflicted Nike/Victoria, goddess of victory. Nico felt a nagging in his mind, like something dark was creeping in but he shoved it to the back of his mind. Suddenly, Hope turned to him with a kind smile and gentle seriousness in her eyes.

"Nico di Angelo. Your memories have been restored and I cannot govern what you do, yet there will come a time when you have to tell. The truth will always be revealed no matter what."

"He has a choice," came Jason's- surprisingly- indignant answer, "he can choose whether or not to confess the things he has kept hidden."

"Son of Jupiter, child of Rome,  _Pontifex Maximus_. You only know too well that the burdens of your heart and your past can crush you when locked up inside of you. So tell him, little angel, for I believe that Perseus Jackson deserves to know the truth."

Percy opened his mouth to ask for an explanation when a foreign yet familiar voice called out from the banks of the river of forgetfulness. "Tell him, Nico di Angelo," the voice crackled, "Tell him about all of your deep, dark secrets you were kept in the shadows. Tell him about what  _really_ drove you away from the demigod camp, what really made you  _despise_  him so."

Percy was about to whip around to face Lupe, but instead found himself looked inquiring and slightly hurt look on his face. "Nico? What is she talking about? What are they talking about?" The shorter male demigod stood stoically still, face deadly pale and words forming incoherent thoughts.

Still Lupe cackled again. "Tell him the truth!"

Nico's eyes fluttered from person to person, the puzzled look on his sister's face, the triumphant glow of Lupe, the understanding and slightly furious look on Jason's face, Elpis's kind non-judgment, his father's emotionless expression. But what really caught him off guard was the Percy's guilty and watery gaze at him. A broken smile and humorless sea-green eyes laced with care and pain, worry and sorrow. A feeling that Nico only knew too well.

"I-I… I love you, Percy. Always have. Y-you don't, I-" Nico seemed to be at a loss of words, and he was fumbling for coherency. Percy laughed nervously and in partial disbelief. There was no way that Nico  _loved_  him; Percy had managed to kill his sister, betray his father, forget him multiple times over, and had even gotten saved many times by the small son of Hades. At the shake of Percy's head and the 45-degree turn of his body, Nico grew desperate and his voice grew in need, and then quieted to the point of whispering. His hand was outstretched and his hand in a grasping motion in the heat of the moment: he would not lose the son of Poseidon again, at this time, at this place. He had lost him once, when he ran away at the news of his sister's death; he had lost him when Hera had forcefully taken his memories and they introduced each other for a second time; he had lost him when the brunette made him swear to lead them on the quest of seven, then fell into Tartarus; he had lost him with he jerked his hand back after shadow-traveling. He had lost him all those years because he was scared of one emotion,  _his_ emotions, three words.

The words poured out from years of keeping them in, from years of hiding it, from years of running away.

" _I-I love you, Percy, I swear on the River Styx. I love you._ "

Percy's head snapped up in the grim silence as he waited for something to happen, something drastic to come tumbling towards them, head-first. But there was nothing. Only did the silence break when he walked towards the son of Hades and pulled him into a much needed embrace. "Nico, gods, Nico." Slim arms hesitantly wrapped around his midsection as well, and the two other demigods smiled, knowingly. "I love you too, Nico, I've fallen in love with you slowly," he whispered into the other's ear, "It was like I was drowning."

"I love you," Percy heard himself say as he turned to face Hades, "I love him and will love him in the future, and I'll look after him the way that I couldn't have with his sister, Bianca. I'll take care of your son,  _I swear on the River Styx_." There was a collective gasp from everyone but Nico as they realized what the son of Poseidon had just said. The ebony-haired teen went up too him and held Percy's bigger hand in his much bonier and fragile ones.

"Bah, worthless human emotion.  _Love_ ," Lupe spat at them, cursing in Ancient Greek. "There is no wonder why mortals are so weak and pathetic, relying only one simple emotions to rule their lives. Perseus Jackson and Nico di Angelo, only two more demigods whose lives will come to an end." Much like the curses, Lupe said their names like rat poison in her mouth.

"But isn't that what you do?" Hazel drew her  _spatha_  and held it menacingly in front of her. She turned towards Lupe, the feelings of fear and misery from the past couple of days coming tumbling out of her in a fit of rage and hatred. "You feed only off of  _weak_  emotions of the  _pathetic_  mortals. Emotions like fear and sorrow and misery because you want to watch the world burn down, to feel what you feel. We all do; we just don't bring others down just to make ourselves seem like gods. You're just looking for attention, like a miserable, conceited  _bitch_."

With a strangled cry, Lupe lunged for the female demigod but was stopped as Mnemosyne- well, Elpis- moved to stand in front of her. Here were sudden lines on her face and she looked stricter, more regal, more  _authoritative._ "Sister, you will not harm any of them-"

"You are not my sister," came the shriek, "my sister is dead!"

With a sudden whirl of darkness and shadows, Lupe disappeared, and everyone else on the shore watched warily- until Hades collapsed. The Lord of the Dead struggled to keep his tall stature up but fell as if exhausted to his knees. Jason instinctively ran to catch the god and wave din the general direction of his friends. As they did, nobody noticed the slowly look of horror on Elpis's face, the darkening of Nico's expression, and the way his pupils expanded wide enough to cover his entire eyes.

Chocolate brown slowly seemed to dissolve, leaving only a palette of cold and unyielding metallic gold.


	30. Extra: Burn (Lupe's Past)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for not updating for a very long time... School, SATs, volunteer, distressing mothers, applying for college classes… yea. Sorry about that. And this chapter is just a little side on Lupe’s past. Yay! And it’s a bit longer than my normal chapters, so yea... (o.k., I admit I didn’t have as much fun writing this than all the cliffhangers. But it was good in a challenging way.)  
> So, that that- enjoy your time, and thanks for coming all the way here with me. =^u^=

Long, long ago in Ancient Greece, lived a young girl of extreme beauty. With her flowing dark locks and intelligent sparkling eyes and captivating smile, it was not a surprise that the men in her village were often vying for her attention. So graceful her movements and so enchanting her features, that she had even captured the heart of Lord Cupid himself. During the Greek times, he was more often Eros, but he still had the ability to change into the form of both love and hate, the form that allowed him to play mercilessly with mortal “love”.

Now this young girl, a fair maiden, had eyes for only one man: her neighbor. He wasn’t the most intelligent, nor the strongest, nor the wealthiest, but he had a heart both pure and rich; he saw the fair maiden for who she was, not how she looked like. One fair day, with the sun shining and the forest plenty, the two- fair maiden and kind man- set off on their free day to the safe haven they had managed to keep hidden from every other villager. But not the gods.

They two played and giggled like children. They raced through the woods, ran past the trees, only to stop at a little cove, hidden from the rest of their world. Breathless, they stopped to catch their breath, unaware of the other presence with them. Cupid stayed high up, up in his own arboreal world, invisible. The two would never see them without his permission and will. However, now he stood with heart twisting in a most unpleasant coil of jealousy. He had planned for her to be his, and the boy had nothing to do with her. They stood facing each other, emotions clear in their eyes; the kind man reached out to either stroke her cheek or kiss her soft hair- but it was not to be.

With a jealous rage, Cupid swung a black arrow from his sheath- the heaviest one- aimed, and fired. It hit the plain _boy_ , Cupid emphasized, in the small section of his back where his heart would’ve been. There was to be no better place to hit, for the heart is the center of love. He saw with satisfaction that the mortal’s hand withdrew from the maiden’s smooth locks and her eyes fill with fear and confusion.

The maiden, hurt and confused and fearful of the reason why her love has taken away his hand, quickly stepped forward to embrace the male. But he pushed her away and she stumbled to balance herself again. Her plump lips opened to call his name, ask why but stopped when she saw his eyes fill with hate and his expression contort into one of disgust. “Do not approach me, fair maiden, for your adulteress heart and your seductive eyes make me fear that I would fall for one such like an _empousai_ *.” Soon, the boy left, leaving the maiden on her own, tears in her eyes. The god of love so wanted to go down and comfort her, but she fled the scene as well. He suspected that she was going to his temple, to cry out for love, and he smiled; it was a job well done, and he would soon have her in his arms.

At the temple, she, heaving for breath and eyes watery with anger and sorrow, screamed out her frustration, temper getting the better of her. But now, she didn’t care what happened to her, for it seemed like her life was ruined. There was no difference if she lived here or in the Underworld- her love would never be accepted.

“An evil spirit,” she cursed into the air up above her, “you ruin lives of those who have done nothing wrong to you! Your heart is corrupted and your mind filled with only the most vile of thoughts! Yes, true love does not exist. Yet neither does your soul!” Her cry echoed around the marble architecture, smaller than others, but still grand. The maiden knew how many others-regardless of age, sex, and status- came to pray for love to be made possible. She had remembered once a time when she would come and pray with parted lips and happy thoughts; it was to be no more.

“Show your mask, oh Cupid! Come down to this Earth and show all men and women of your ugly and disgusting heart-” Her jaw was suddenly seized and she stared into red eyes, beautiful and wide, both of youth and of old age. However, now they reminded her of a volcano full of rage and wishes of revenge and, surprisingly, passion.**

“Your wish has been granted, fair maiden,” the god said coldly. “For you, true love does not exist, it shall ever. You shall never be able to fully receive the love that men will give you. Alone and in despair you shall roam this Earth until your dying breath.” The maiden felt something rest on her shoulders, something heavy like a load of wood, but yet there was nothing there. It seemed as if the curse had been laid on her.

Tears running freely down her cheeks now, she spat in the god’s face; in disgust and slight shock at her bold actions, Cupid let go of her face and let her sink to her knees bonelessly. “Do not tempt the gods, fair maiden, for you shall see that it costs you your life, the lives of your loved ones, and your heart.”

In fear, she rushed back to her village, where she lived. Her mother, sister, and father were still at home, and _her neighbor_. God forbid, if anything happened to him… Even if he did hate her, he still held the maiden’s heart, and she swore to never pray to the gods against if anything were to happen. To _any_ of her loved ones. When she neared, she called out in a strained voice for she was struggling for breath.

“Mother! Father!” The maiden’s father walked out to meet her; tall and handsome even with age, he now looked burdened, line on his face more prominent.

“Your sister-” With an expression of utter horror and guilt, the maiden ran inside the house.

The fair maiden’s sister, barely of age subjected to marriage, was on the floor- unconscious. They were as close as quarrelsome sisters could get. The maiden rushed to her side. Their mother was trying to shake the poor girl awake, crying out in agony as the father gently pulled her away. The maiden was frozen, only a shell with the shock. “She’s gone,” the male said, “she’s gone.”

Suddenly standing up, the maiden walked outside with curses, none ladylike, at the tip of her tongue and tears stinging her eyes. Recalling Cupid’s words, she made rude gestures and creative curses all around her, hoping that at least one of them would reach the god of ‘love’. She curse lay heavy upon her and the maiden felt her posture become rigid and bent, much like one burdened with old age. She fell to her knees, finally crying out in pain and sorrow. The cry ripped from her seemed to call spirits to tend to her. Or harm her further, she could not tell.

Past abhorrent words ringing in her ears, when she closed her eyes she felt a stirring wind encase her as if not letting her go. She lost track of time, she lost track of distance. She was a lost soul, forever traveling.

When she _did_ open her eyes, however, she found herself not next to her house. Not even near her village it seemed. Startled, she stood up, slightly struggling to keep the heavy and invisible burden on her shoulders. She was in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a foreign desert. The bare wind struck her across the face and her bare feet sunk into the warm, nearly scorching, sands. Looking around her, she found a waterskin half-full with water. So it seems that the gods weren’t entire incapable of mercy, she thought bitterly. Yet this would have to do for the time being.

Deciding that it was the easiest course possible, the fair maiden went alongside with the wind; still, the blistering heat and the miniscule grains of sand beat down upon her day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. It was a surprise that she managed to stay upright.

It was two sunrises later when she collapsed, exhausted from the day’s walk in the foreign terrain, and she reflected back upon Cupid’s dire words. _Do not tempt the gods, fair maiden, for you shall see that it costs you your life._ Anger and sorrow only waxing with her punishment, she pushed herself up onto her knees and hands, then getting up. If anything, she would make her way back home and claim her revenge on the gods. The supernatural beings only had a godly appearance, she thought, but they were disgustingly human at heart.

Barely an hour later, she had fully run out of anything to run on, and her body was ready to shut itself down, in necessary. Fortunately for her, she had made it to an oasis; Even though the gods were against her, it seemed that Fortuna was on her side. Gratefully and somewhat gracelessly kneeling down to embrace the water, she quickly washed off the grime on her face and replenished the waterskin, hoping that in the next leg of her journey, Fortuna would still be with her. Weary and burdened and worn out, she rested her back against a nearby tree, welcoming the shade and feeling of protect that was so rare in these parts of the world, it seemed.

But now, she thought it was ready time for a little nap, just to rest her aching bones and sore muscles....

~ ~ ~

Pleasantly warm, not too hot, rays of light were upon her face as she opened her almond eyes to stare at the blurry figure above before flinching away instinctively when it moved.

“Hello,” he said, “are you up now?”

The maiden, still sore and hurting but better than last time, looked up to see a handsome stranger with a kind smile on his face. His hand was outstretched and welcoming. “You were passed out on the sands. But it’s okay. I’ll take you home.”*** It wasn’t so his words that convinced her to take his hand, but his kind smile- one that she had remembered from long ago.

“Who are you?” Her unused voice was raspy and scratchy in the desert wind, but she didn’t mind nor notice.

The stranger’s smile grew at her response. “I am Ankh Kontar****. I am from Egypt, and I have been searching for my lost father. May I ask what your name is, fair maiden?” The maiden knew that she was far from fair- dirt-caked and dusty- but she smiled, it seemed, for the first time in a very long time. This stranger made her do things that she had thought she had forgotten to do.

“I am a lost soul, seeking for a home. My former home is long gone, my former life no more.”

“Why do you say that, maiden?”

She looked at him, the smile on her lips small and eyes pained. “The gods have cursed me to wander, possible until my dying breath.”

“Well then, let us hope that there is room enough on this earth for a beautiful maiden so that you may find a home in your wandering. Maybe you would like to come with me?”

And so she had. She had fled from her past and further from the forsaken desert place. The two solo nomads soon became a strong duet, working together past obstacles and keeping each other warm throughout the nights and making so that the other would survive. It was a partnership well done, a friendship well matched. While they were walking, sometimes, they would talk, talk about their homelands, about their families, about their cultures, about past embarrassing moments; yet they never trailed far into thought about the other and never asked too many questions, for they both knew that hiding a little of their painful pasts was a right, a dignity that the other had. All in all, the maiden thought that she was happy and content for a cursed exile.

One night, however, the handsome stranger had grown sick of simply calling her ‘fair maiden’ so as they sat to rest after the sun had set, he had asked her:

“Do you mind, fair maiden, telling me your name? For I want to place a name to your beautiful face, so that I may call your name with my lips.”

She vehemently shook her head. “If it is one thing that I shall not, _cannot_ , tell you is my name.” No matter how hard he pleaded, the Egyptian seemed unable to convince the maiden. So he sighed and

“Then what may I call my fair maiden?”

“You can call me whatever it is to your desire.”

“May my maiden be called _Lotus_?” Seeing her confused look, he quickly explained. “From my home country, the Lotus is a flower that only grows where we can find relief from the scorching heat of the sun. For its many uses, it is pleasing to the eyes, and the color is unique in Egypt. Fair maiden, you are my lotus in the desertplace.”

“Such a sweet name, it may be too sweet to accompany my face.”

“Nothing is too sweet for your delicate features.”

Her almond eyes turned to him and her body turned to face him. “You must be careful, sir, or else I may fall for your sweet words and kind smile.” He smiled when she walked closer to him and stared him in the eyes. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and pulled her in until their lips were merely centimeters apart.

“My words may be sweet, but my intentions not so.”

“Such a shame,” she replied, “neither are mine.” Their lips met in a cursory kiss and were immediately begging for more.

Nothing significant other than that happened later in the evening, just a few more fleeting kisses and they rested next to each other for the night. Ankh had already fallen asleep, an experienced traveler. However, the young maiden could not. As she lay and watched the twinkling stars above her, she noted that they seemed genuinely happy. the stars were smiling, sparkling down at her as if this were another world, as if she weren’t cursed by the gods. thoughts whirling, the maiden recalled the sweet words of Ankh: _“Fair maiden, you are my lotus in the desertplace.”_ She turned so that she was on her side, and her almond eyes rested on the handsome Egyptian.

From where she was from, the lotus represented forgetfulness and a bliss pleasure leading to an unwillingness to leave. More likely, he was _her_ lotus, allowing her to forget about her curse, drawing her in with his kind smile and sweet words until she was no longer able to leave.

 _I thank you,_ she thought, _I thank you for being with me, staying with me. Even though I may have to leave soon..._

Feelings conflicted, the fair maiden fell asleep; Nyx took them under her wing for the night, and they waited for Helios to wake them up.

  ~ ~ ~

It was a week later when it happened. The duo had finally made it out of the land without water and, after replenishing their water supply at a small village, made it to the woods. Just across there would be another small village, where Ankh suspected his father had taken refuge in. If they found him, they didn’t know what they were to do, but at least they would’ve made it this far through on life’s journey. And they had found new love, new love that seemed to stay.

But the gods were still there; they are always there.

For some time now, “Lotus” felt the need to tell Ankh, specifically, about the curse and how she feared for him. It seemed as if she were in safe zone where the gods weren’t, but she could never be so sure. These thoughts were whirling inside of her mind as they wandered the woods, looking for any signs that may direct them to Kontar’s father.

“Let’s split up,” she suggested, “that way we’ll cover more ground.” After a brief exchange of warm smiles and wishes of good luck, the two separated. The maiden peered intently at the forest floor, determined to find one sign of human life that may have passed through here. After a good half-hour, she stood up and stretched out her humped shoulders and back. With satisfying cracks, she smiled and looked out into the valley floor. The scenery, with the sun setting and the wide expanse of air, created a sense of serenity inside of her, calming her. Yes, she would live on and save Ankh Kontar. She would forget the gods and live by herself, live a successful life. She would be _free_.

The maiden turned around, just barely feeling the earth shift underneath her feet. Without any warning, she felt herself fall backwards, just a miniscule degree- but it was enough to upset her balance and she slipped, falling backwards, backwards, backwards...

 _“Lotus!”_ Hurried footsteps in her direction, but her body was frozen. The gods…

Ankh caught her, but it still wasn’t enough to stop her from falling. He hugged her tight as they fell into the empty space, whispering encouraging and sayings of comfort in her ear. Somehow, the maiden was on top of the Egyptian when they landed, and she broke her ankle. Uncomfortable heat and pain shooting up her leg, she got up and collapsed next to the male. “Kontar...Kontar...Ankh!” Getting up on her knees, she gently put a hand on his cheek. “Oh, curse the gods, Ankh, please open your eyes, please open your eyes to see the sun another day-”

“You’re the only sun I need, maiden.”

“Oh, Ankh,” she whispered, voice hoarse. Tears were blurring her vision. “This is my fault, I should never have said yes in coming with you, this is all my fault...”

“Now why do you say that, Lotus? I feel it was an honor traveling with such a beautiful lady, a flower in the colorless desert that I had traveled with for so lon-” He coughed and coughed, pain obvious on his features. When he moved his hand, there were spots of red on his tan skin and dots of black in his vision.

“I was exiled, I was cursed by the gods to roam. I was told that true love for me was never to exist. Now that I have loved you, the gods once again remind me. Kontar, this burden that I carry will take you until your death!” Tears were freely flowing now, they wet his face as well. He used his long and thin fingers, still strong and calloused from a life of hardship, to wipe away the droplets of sorrow.

“I would rather live a short life in the desert with the beauty of a lotus than to live a long life of wandering in the desertplace. The gods would’ve cursed me if they had not sent you…to me.” He smiled, the same one that he had given her when they first met in the desertplace, and held his hand and held it against the maiden’s cheek. “A hapna qui. **^** No matter what, I will always love you, sweet maiden of the lotus, No curse nor exile makes your heart any bigger or your eyes any prettier. Lotus, A hapna qui, a hapna...” She held his hand against her cheeks and, as tears spilled and heart broken, she cried out for her lost love. She yelled and cursed, screamed and cried until she thought she couldn’t stand, couldn’t speak, couldn’t live on.

Her head was pounding; when she had landed, her head had taken most of the impact and she could now feel the effects of the concussion settling in. Where was the blue sky? Where was the safe ground? A warm and dark liquid slowly trickled onto the sands, draining the maiden’s life away. With one heaving effort, she pressed her chapped and bruised lips to his cold ones, staying there until her last breath warmed them. The colors of the setting sun splashed across their features before encasing them in a ebony black, forever.

She felt herself being physically pulled from her mortal flesh and her soul being dragged into the pits of the underworld. She found herself in line, producing a drachma to cross the river. Not long after, she was waiting in line with the other soon-to-be-judged. However, a dark and looming shape seemed to beckon to her. _‘Come here,’_ it said, _‘I shall present to you what you want.’_

Removing herself from the line, she slowly moved her feet and made her way to the dark figure. As she got closer, her vision seemed to clear a black mist and she could tell his unique features and body shape set him apart from the other spirits.

“Who might you be,” the maiden asked curiously, “that you call a nameless shadow in the line of the judged?”

His high and sharp cheekbones were protruding as he stared at her with silver eyes, amused and interested. “I am Achlys, spirit of the death-mist, misery and sorrow.” His voice was icy cold and sent a shiver down her spine. Yet he seemed interesting enough to call only _her_ attention. “I can tell of your sorrowful past.”

“It is a past that I do not wish to share,” she said grimly.

“Ah, yes. Yet I am only here to introduce a proposal.” The maiden stayed silent. “I can give you power; I can give you what you desire.”

“What do I desire?”

He smiled wickedly. “I want to recruit you as a spirit, to transform you into a spirit of the Underworld. You shall adopt a domain and you shall become its ruler. You need also another identity, another name for mortals, gods, and other souls to know you. So, will you allow me to morph your soul?”

The distinct lack of nosie and eerie calm of the Underworld seemed to match the silence that came from the maiden. Achlys peered intently at her soul, waiting for her answer. Then, one word for them to create the pack.

“Yes.”

His angular features twisted into a grim smile before Achlys reached out a hand and placed it right ontop of her chest, where her heart should’ve been. With a gasp, the maiden felt her spirit being pulled out, transformed, remade into something newer, better, stronger. The maiden felt her veins surge with power and her age become unknown- she would be immortal now. Her eyes flew open, the former almond-colored eyes now a molten gold.

“My name shall be _Lupe_.”^^

She was no more a lotus; she will get back at the gods, who had taught her ‘her place’, beat her down until she was nothing more than a mere spirit roaming the Earth. But now, her destiny was to rise out of the ashes and burn it down.

Burn **_everything_** down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *empousi- if you didn’t already know, these are seductive female vampires with red hair, a bronze leg, and a donkey’s foot. They are good at ensnaring men before they devour them. (I basically plagiarized off of Wiki but, oh well)
> 
> **uh, I tried to make a slight reference to “The Crane Wife”… really good book, but I don’t think that many people would understand. Just sayin’
> 
> ***Okay, this isn’t a stalker-ish thing... he just kinda interpreted her as a child being lost, so... I apologize if that came out wrong. It didn’t really know how to phrase it well... *wince*
> 
> ****Ankh is a male Egyptian name meaning “life”; Kontar is a male Egyptian surname/second-given name meaning “only son”
> 
> ^rough pronunciation for the former Arabic (I love you)- the ‘official’ language of Egypt
> 
> ^^ the literal translation for Lupe means “pain (body or mine); grief, distress”


	31. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But there was one slip-up, and that proved to be the key in a fatal decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! (Same excuses, etc.) So my friend has an Etsy and she has some really cute stuff that she makes. If you guys have the time to, I encourage you all to visit her page at: http://www.etsy.com/store/OneArtisticInfinity

Jason struggled to hold Hades's tall form up and Percy tried reaching out to help. That is, before he felt a sharp tip in the small of his back and a cold yet familiar voice whisper in his ear. "Goodbye, son of Poseidon."

The green-eyed teen just barely twirled out of death's way, and that was with a good five years of practice against monsters, spirits, gods, giants, and the Earth. In a mere second, Riptide was in his hands, gleaming gold and black, reflecting the dead earth and dark rapids. Instinct took over reason and logic (not that Percy had much to begin with) and every cell in his body was screaming 'ENEMY!' including his brain.

All but his heart.

The golden eyes and cold smirk on those otherwise delectable lips (not a good time to be thinking about that) were the dead giveaway. "Just you and me, son of Poseidon," Nico said. "Just you and me."

"Lupe," Percy scoffed, knowing that his Nico wouldn't be able to hear him, "didn't peg you to go after the dark and silent type."

The smirk didn't budge, but the eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Percy held a grin of his own. "It seems we go after the same type." With a look of dark humor (more like murder) on the son of Hades's face exposed for all to see, Nico charged without warning.

The ring of metal on metal vibrated through their bones and rattled the earth's foundation. Their swords didn't budge, neither bending the force of the other.

On the other side, Jason and Hazel tried in vain to break through the invisible and apparently soundproof barrier that separated them and the other two demigods. Hades was on his feet and conscious—but just barely. Percy and Nico were tumbling and grasping for each other in the dirt, and Hazel sighed in relief as she saw their swords were multiple feet away, closer to the banks of the Lethe. They must've advanced in their fight and tumbled away from their weapons; at least that would keep them from spearing each other over and over again.

"Hazel," Jason said quickly as he turned to the other, "Can you undo the magic somehow? Did Hecate teach you anything in this forte?"

"T-this," the daughter of Pluto stammered. This only proved that she was struggling for words no matter how deep and complicated her thoughts had run. She cleared her throat and composed herself. "This is dark magic, and much stronger than the Mist itself. I can try, but I can't guarantee anything…" She cast her golden eyes downward to hide her pained expression. With a guttural cry, the son of Jupiter slammed his shoulder into the barrier, only to fly backwards; he let out a frustrated curse in Latin as Elpis gazed sadly at the two.

"Do not, young demigods," she warned, "if you do manage to breach the force field, then Lupe will destroy all. The only reason why Lupe is fighting the son of Poseidon physically is because of Nico's will. The boy is stopping Lupe from using her spiritual power. But if she sets her sight on all three, four of you, then I know that Nico's control will be crushed. Even now, he is unable to stop from absorbing her energy, and it is slowly killing his own life energy."

Hazel, alarmed at the information, looked up at the goddess, "Wait, does that mean-"

"The light of his heart is flickering like a candle's hesitant flame," was her only received response.

"But we can't stand here and do nothing!" Jason's desperate cry echoed over the barren land of the Underworld, but was unable to reach the two fighting demigods. Hazel made a noise of assent, but the goddess only shook her head.

"It is only in the hands of those two demigods."

The two demigods were grappling each other and the dirt, trying to gain the advantage. Percy had the height and strength while Nico had the agility and speed. They were equally matched, but could only be one victor. And it seemed the other would not be spared any mercy.

Both were doubtless sweating, yet their stamina and will unrelenting.

In a moment, they were rolling towards their formerly dropped swords, and Percy- having the warrior hardwired into his instincts as a demigod- shot out his arm to grab his sword. Riptide once again safely in his grip, he rolled so that he was straddling the younger teen and struck down hard before he could think about it.

'Oh, shit.'

He had nearly impaled his crush. Fortunately enough, the son of Hades twisted his body so that he was able to throw Percy off of him, and he swiftly dodged before the metal decapitated him. He then rolled to the side, picking up his sword as he heaved himself up. The two demigods met again, blade against blade. Nico whirled to the side, almost catching Percy unguarded as both had their weight against their blade. Almost.

Catching himself, the son of Poseidon used his right foot to stop his fall and twisted so that their swords met again. The awkward angle was hard on his shoulders as Nico kept pushing them in opposing angles; the brunette blinked rapidly, trying to get the salty drops out of his eyes and felt more sweat trickle down his cheek. Excruciating moments of pain later, the metal slipped against each other and the teens faced each other once again, completely oblivious to the fact that their friends—no, their family—was yelling at them from the other side of the wall.

But there was one slip-up, and that proved to be the key in a fatal decision.

Nico hesitated in swinging, his hesitation getting stronger and stronger with each pending strike. Finally he stopped once, sword held midair and reflecting some sort of light with a mysterious origin. With that move, Percy stopped too, sword held parallel to the ground in front of him in a somewhat non-threatening way (well, it wasn't being brandished or being thrust at his opponent so that counted for something). The gold was getting darker, blending with a shade of rich coffee brown that he had constantly dreamt of.

Percy opened his mouth to say something—anything—but the cold demeanor of Lupe was back. There was a dull thud as his sword hit the ground, and he raised him arms in surrender. The Stygian iron at his chest was more than intimidating as the waters of the Lethe behind the son of Hades roared even louder.

So this was how he was going to die. This was going to be his final moment. And he needed to ensure that Nico knew something. The real Nico di Angelo.  _His_ Nico di Angelo.

The son of Hades pulled back the sword a couple of inches, ensuring that his opponent knew that he still had the upper hand, yet making room for the final blow. Percy stared Nico straight in the eyes. "I know that this is a selfish thing to say, but if you remember anything, anything at all," he took a deep breath as he lowered his arms and put on a kind and surrendering smile. "Just remember that I love you."

The green-eyed teen smiled sadly yet sweetly at those golden eyes, specked with warm chocolate brown. His breathing evened out and his posture slackened; when he died, he wanted to die peacefully. The silence enveloped them as Death seemed to be looming over them, an invisible but completely unmistakable presence within their mist.

With a strangled and dry shout, Nico di Angelo threw his sword so that it landed far, far away from them, and threw himself backwards- towards the dark, dark waters below.

Percy, in his shocked state, instinctively lunged out for the son of Hades, hand outstretched and feet way above ground. Cries for them seemed distant and foreign; even his own cry seemed far, far away from them. His fingers brushed past the tips of the paler teen's fingers, whose eyes were bright yellow and chocolate brown, gold and earth, hatred and love and pain.

"Nico-!"


	32. Peace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. If all goes well, then this will be the second to last chapter! But maybe I'll write an extra chapter to even something like a sequel; just tell me what y'all want. Thanks for staying with me 'till the end, and hope you have a wonderful day. ^u^

As soon as the demigod made contact with the dark surface of the river, the darkness seeped out of Nico, suddenly, and was washed away by the grey waters. The other three demigods rushed forward, and Percy's eyes darkened to an evergreen in worry as he lunged onto the shore, reaching instinctively for the limp hand just barely peeping out from the waters. The son of Hades had already gone under and if he didn't regain consciousness soon… 'It's not going to be his lost memories that becomes the problem,' Percy though grimly. With a last reach and struggle, he gripped Nico's deathly pale hand; his arm was submerged under the grey, and he could feel his memories, his  _life_  being pulled from underneath him. The waters were washing away at the basic foundations of his mind, and he was struggling to keep himself: his personality, his thoughts, his

With a growl, he planted his ankles into the river—just out of reach of Nico but not far enough away that the Lethe didn't affect him—and fought the impulse to let go of all the pain and misery and rage that he had felt in his life.  _But I'll forget all the happy memories that I've made as well. Then I'll lose myself. Isn't that what I_ should _be afraid of?_

With a sound of frustration and determination, a half-yell, half-grunt, he grabbed Nico's limp hand in his own. No, he was not going to forget. Especially since Nico needed him. Right then, right there.

There was a strong pull from his midsection and both he and Nico were flying backwards into the ground, feet away from the shore. The son of Poseidon laid his head down on the rough ground, worn-out, and his hands and feet were all spread apart as if he had lain down to make a snow-angel. Percy looked up at the blonde from his defeated position on the ground. "Was that really necessary?" Jason stared at him with blue eyes, intense and worried, calm and furious.

"You were about to jump into the Lethe. You  _did_  jump into the Lethe. That is why you're never the strategist; you're going to get yourself killed one way or another."

Percy shrugged as he hauled himself onto his elbows. "Hey, at least it'll work."

"I will  _not_  drag your soul out of the Underworld, Jackson," the familiar son of Hades scowled.

Percy turned his sea-green eyes at Nico, giving him an amused and warm look. "You love me." At the eye roll that Nico made, the son of Poseidon laughed and hugged the smaller teen closer to his body, now all hints of amusement and laughter replaced by a rare seriousness and sober attitude. His voice was low and close to Nico's ear so that only the two of them could hear. "Don't you ever do that to yourself ever again. Don't you ever do that to  _me_  ever again. I can't bear to see you like that. I can't bear to see the one I love jump into the Lethe like that, no matter what.  _No matter what_."

He held Nico at arm's length, question held in his dark eyes. Gulping, the son of Hades swallowed before nodding. He wanted to embrace Percy, his hero, he wanted to be in those strong arms again, he wanted to  _hug_  him for goodness sakes—Nico's arms snaked out and held the taller male's midsection, pulling so that his face was buried into the chest of the other. He didn't trust himself to speak without betraying some  _serious_  emotion. Yet now, he felt that he could confront his own feelings; he felt that he could reach some premises of 'happiness,' whatever that it may prove to be. Yet now, he was able to smile freely, with tears of relief instead of pain and sorrow adorning his cheeks. Yet now, he could look at others and express his feelings without aliening himself with fears of death—not of himself but of his loved ones. Yet now, he could think of the concept regarding a certain four-lettered word.

Yet now, he wasn't afraid any longer.

He smiled into Percy's chest as the taller male wrapped his arms around him in a tight grip, as if making sure that the son of Hades would not ever evade his grasp ever again. Seeing this scene, Elpis's lips slowly curved into an upwards smile that told of sanguinity and serenity, peace and hope. That was, in fact, what she stood for anyways. The golden-eyed demigod had rushed over to her 'brother', ensuring that he was alright and fussing over his condition even though he claimed to be alright. The blonde was still having a talk with the son of Poseidon about suicidal missions and how the green-eyed teen was going to drive everyone insane. In his rage, he said, "If you  _ever_  do something like that ever again and actually die then I swear, Percy, I'll kill you with your own sword!" much to the others' amusement.

Though soon, they were sobering up as the full events of the day hit them, and their faces slowly grew grey and tired and silent. They wanted to go home. "Demigods." At the soft and powerful voice, the called teens turned around to face the spirit of Hope. "You have done well, to have defeated misery itself. You have driven Lupe away by showing her that sorrow can be overcome by mere willpower. Yet she will only be driven further into her own loneliness and I pity her." As if to express the anguish inside, Elpis sighed. "But I am afraid that there is nothing we can do for her."

"Is she going to come back?" Hazel's golden eyes seemed to be shining, but there was also a hint of desperation in her expression. Would they have to go through it again? Would someone else have to suffer through what the quartet did over the past week or so?

Elpis sighed again. "She will have to stay undetected and unnoted by others for some years for her to regain a portion of the power that he had before. If she is to stay to her will then she will rise again, although I doubt that it will be in your time.

"But for now, rest and dream of pleasant thing so that these moments may only be remembered as a past memory. Something you all have lived past and learned from. Sleep young demigods, sleep."

Just as she was saying these things, Percy's eyelids were growing heavy, and found the others slouching as well, putting down their guard to blissful unconsciousness. For a moment he heard Hades talking about shadowtraveling and sending them to the surface, but the green-eyed teen proved too tired to care. Now that he thought about it, he  _was_  quite tired, and it would be the best to rest up for the days ahead. He was gently brought down to the ground and laid horizontally by some mystical force, and the fog in his mind took over and his muscles relaxed because everyone was safe and Nico was …

Percy woke with a start, heart pounding and adrenaline running through his veins. He felt that he had run a mile, a marathon even, yet oddly content, peaceful, like he could die a happy man. He lay on a soft surface, hand mindlessly sifting through the warm grains of sand much like time slipping through his fingers—Percy started at his sand-covered hand. Sand? Where was he? He looked around to spot a dark figure staring at the warm colors of the sunset reflected off of the seemingly endless waters. The figure was in a sitting position, knees bent and arms hugging his legs to his chest. "Nico, where, no, why-"

"You're awake." He simply said. An awkward moment of silence. "You might want to contact Annabeth and Piper. I heard from Hazel that they're going to pick us up."

"They're safe?" Percy sat up and was suddenly dizzy with a lack of oxygen and flow of blood. "Are they at camp? And why couldn't you IM them yourself?"

Nico gave him a dry but still amused look. He leaned towards the blue expanse ahead of them. "Last time I checked, I can't make rainbows."

"Rainbows? Why in Zeus's name would you need to make a rain- oh wait. Iris Messaging. Gotcha." Percy's embarrassed grin turned into a grown. "But how are we supposed to –nevermind. Son of the sea god. Very funny, Nico." He tried not to wince at Nico's 'no-shit' expression and his soft muttering. "By the gods, how did Annabeth deal with you…"

A couple minutes later (Percy had gone out to the sea to calculate their coordinates), the two teens were once again silent on the beach, waiting for their ride to come. Hazel and Jason were still asleep as neither Percy nor Nico had bothered to wake them up. Let them sleep on their own accord. Suddenly, the son of Hades handed Percy a clay pot with a flower in it. His green eyes widened in recognition and surprise. "Nico, this is-"

"Yea," he replied dryly, "the gods have a strange sense of humor."

With the inflow of—not bad—awkward memories, Percy set it aside int eh grass. Nico gave him a rare grin that spoke his true age. "Maybe we should give it to Annabeth and Piper. I feel as if their bunks need a little more decoration," Nico said.

"Are you sure  _you_  don't need it? I mean, it does have its advantages."

Percy's smirk rivaled his, but the younger teen merely rolled his eyes. "I don't need it. And I'm pretty sure you don't either."

A familiar voice called from behind, and a horse whinnied. "Are you two going to flirt until the end of the world or get in?" Although the blonde's tone was strict, she had a small smile on her face. Piper had waken the formerly sleeping demigods up, and the Romans were getting into the chariot. The two sons of the Big Three climbed in as well, and Percy was glad that it was a chariot large enough for all of them; otherwise it would have been a very long flight (not that he would complain with Nico on his lap, but the son of Poseidon liked a little personal space). As he took the reins from Annabeth, a familiar voice called out in his head.  _Hey, I missed you boss. Where've you been?_

'Just out and around, screwing Gods over and completing stupid prophecies. Same old, same old. At least there were no titans involved in this one.' Blackjack snorted, and Percy couldn't help but grin himself. Annabeth handed the green-eyed teen the reins, knowing fully well that he, as the son of Poseidon, would have the easiest time controlling the pegasi, who whined at their black kin to steer correctly. Blackjack snorted again.  _But you seem happy, boss_.

'Well, I might be happier if you would stop calling me boss.'

 _Sorry, boss. No can do._ Annabeth and Piper were talking to themselves, about God-knows-what. (Girls were confusing to guys, a true fact.) Well…he looked over to Nico who was starting down at the passing cities below with a small smile adorning his lean features. He guessed something good  _did_  come out of this journey. As he thought, a smile of his own touched the corners of his mouth.

 _In love boss? Didn't peg you as the romantic type._  Percy heard the pegasus snort and he rolled his eyes. Being so present in his thoughts, he did not notice Nico's sly hand until it held his over the reins, hesitant yet secure. He smirked at the shorter teen, who blushed scarlet and turned away, muttering something—probably a curse—in Italian.

'I fell hard,' Percy admitted with a chuckle, 'but it seems like that's a good thing.'


	33. Epilogue: Need

The camp was alive with noise, from the most recent gossip to the clanging of swords. In their lives, so much hardship, suffering, pain, loneliness. But when they came here, it was worthwhile to live. To live for these moments. An elderly man in a wheelchair gazed adoringly at the children, ranging from the youngest possible to be claimed to the eldest, just barely turned an adult. He smiled. They were all his children in his mind, his dear children. He didn't notice the other male approaching him. The standing man merely looked over to where the elderly man was, a little exhale escaping his plump lips.

"Hmph. Those kids..." Dionysus clicked his tongue absentmindedly as stood next to Chiron.

"My lord?"

"Jackson and his friends. I feel they've done more things than my father has in the past centuries, save for the numerous cases of infidelity." The god cautiously looked up the clear skies, as if expecting them to start darkening and rumbling with thunder immediately. "Oops. Any louder and I might have to stay another fifty years in this blasted camp."

The centaur, old and knowledgeable, stared mystified at the back of the god. Then, a small smile spread across his lips, the corners of his eyes wrinkling in amusement and understanding. Slowly, he turned his gaze to the playing demigods, old and new, across what he had learned to call home. His home, as well as home to many others.

* * *

Two of those demigods strolled in the woods, satisfied with their lone—save each other—time. They  _were_  practically one, two teenage girl so different yet inseparable, like two cogs in a machine, two pieces of a puzzle. The trees sighed and the sunlight gently seeped through the leaves, casting a golden hue around them.

Sensing her girlfriend's quiet mood, Annabeth stopped their pace and glanced worriedly into the kaleidoscope eyes she had also begun to correlate with the concept of 'home.' "Are you alright? You seem a bit...out of it."

"I feel fine," Piper stated, voice mirroring her exuberant mood. "I feel so big, so happy, so  _alive_. It's like I've been revived."

Annabeth grinned as she held the brunette's hand, swinging them slightly as they strolled through the woods. The filtered sunlight created a serene scene yet the constant shifting of the leaves and shadows reminded them that everything around them  _was_  alive. Like the trees. Like the campers behind them at camp. Like the flowing water of the creek. Like their love. "You know, revive literally means 'to live again'. That's the perfect word, as that's exactly how I feel with you. Like I was given the chance to live another life without being born again."

Piper's face colored, but she wore a happy smile on her face and wondered how she could ever get used to the expanding in her chest, the heat of emotion that stirred through her entire body. Not just lust, but passion. She pulled the taller demigod towards her, forcing Annabeth to bend at the waist for their lips to meet. "Such a smartass. But, gods, I never get tired of those lips."

"Well, you'll have to deal with them for a much longer time, so might as well get use to them."

"Oh," Piper grinned as she pulled the blonde back down again, "I will."

* * *

Nico stared out into the passive waters of the lake that demigods spending time at Camp Half-Blood have taken for granted, him included. But now, he was grateful to be able to come to a soothing place when his thoughts were jumbled up. It helped calm him. Posture relaxed, the son of Hades sighed and let himself be lulled into a blissful state of tranquility.

"Peaceful, huh?" Nico's dark eyes slowly turned and focused on the dark, outlined shaped next to him. His lips curved upwards in what seemed to be amusement. The background noise of the crickets and waves lapping the shore created a distilled moment of silence between the two. It was casual enough to not be awkward, but not comfortable enough to be casual. "So," the son of Poseidon started, "heard Reyna took Hazel as an assistant."

"Apprentice. Heir to the praetorship."

"Yea, that. Congrats, I guess." The green-eyed teen shrugged awkwardly. He turned just to see a gentle smile fade from his features, but the soft glint in his dark eyes remained.

"Yea."

"...and Jason and Reyna got together. Engaged, I heard from the Aphrodite cabin. Well, Piper."

"Hmm."

"I, uh, feel we got on well after coming back from the quest. The classes are getting bigger 'cause the gods finally got their shit togeth-"

Nico finally cut off his endless and nervous chatter. "You're horrible at small talk."

"I love you too, Nico." A wispy laugh, somewhat a sigh. Percy shifted closer to the shorter demigod so that their bare arms and shoulders made contact. "Nico?"

"Hmm?"

"Please don't ever go into your emo, 'I-have-no-one-to-love' phase again. It's not pretty to watch, Nico." Said teen playfully punched Percy's arm, who rubbed the same place in mock hurt.

"Percy? Please don't ever go into your stupidly suicidal 'I-will-save-everyone; phase ever again. You might actually die."

"You wound me. It takes more than that to kill me," Percy grinned. The son of Hades merely hummed distractedly in reply as the older male interlocked their fingers together. It was an interesting sight, with his long and pale pianist-like fingers in between Percy's stronger, tanner, broader ones; both hands and fingers were scarred and calloused from years of experience , but they unexpectedly fit well together, if not perfectly. And that was all they needed.


End file.
